There are few men in Fort Worth history that have so greatly impacted our city like Holt Hickman. You see these other men's names on monuments and buildings – men like Sid Richardson, Amon Carter, John Justin, Charles Tandy, Perry Bass and Bob Bolen. Their names are memorialized not for what they did in business, though they all did very well, but for what they gave back to Fort Worth.
With the exception of Bolen, these men were not in politics and were not compensated to give back to the city. (And Bolen was giving back way before he became the longest sitting mayor of Cowtown.)
All of these men owned multiple companies that did business locally, nationally and internationally and, thus, did not rely solely on Fort Worth to be successful.
What all of these men had in common was that they were all entrepreneurial businessmen who loved the city in which they lived. They used their vast success to give back to the city they treasured and made it part of their life mission to help shape the great city of Fort Worth through their heartfelt dedication to civic philanthropy.
Holt was best known for his love of our city's Western heritage – specifically the Fort Worth Stockyards. Our feature story in this issue on Holt (page 50) reveals all he did to preserve and help rebuild the Stockyards National Historic District.
Anyone who spent any time with Holt knew the motto by which he strictly lived: "Leave the world better than you found it."
From Billy Bob's to the Livestock Exchange building to his opening of the 85,000-square-foot Stockyards Station and purchase of more than 40 acres of the historic district, the Stockyards would not be what they are today without Holt's efforts. Remember that the next time you are walking over the brick streets in the Stockyards, watching the Longhorns stroll down Exchange Avenue.
While his boots were only a size 10, he left a footprint much larger than that for the rest of us to appreciate.
