A new Fort Worth ghost tour scares up the Stockyards and Hell’s Half Acre haunted past
A new year-round ghost tour set around the Fort Worth Stockyards promises to scare up the past of Cowtown.
US Ghost Adventures launched its first tour in Fort Worth titled, “Cow Town Ghosts: Hauntings of the Wild West,” in December. The company has other Texas tours in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio.
Fort Worth has been on the company’s radar for a potential ghost tour for the last few years given its long history and ties to Western culture, said Andrew Luciano, US Ghost Adventures director of expansion: food and drink tours.
“Not to mention it’s very old, so obviously very storied and in turn being extremely haunted,” he said. “Which is what we like.”
The ghost tour starts by learning about the infamous section of downtown Fort Worth once known as “Hell’s Half Acre,” after the violence and crimes of the city’s yesteryear. From there, guests are taken on a one-hour, one-mile walk past historic and potentially haunted buildings.
A few highlights of the tour include passing by the Stockyards Hotel, where notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, aka Bonnie and Clyde, stayed, and where some say their presence is still felt. Other stops include the White Elephant Saloon and Miss Molly’s Hotel.
In addition to the locales, the fact that over 100 years ago the Stockyards were packed with gunslingers, outlaws and anything in between adds to the allure of hosting a ghost tour in Fort Worth, Luciano said.
“Those souls still wander the streets inhabiting many of the buildings that are still up and standing, still causing havoc in the afterlife,” he said. “Really, it just makes for an ideal ghost tour location.”
While “Cow Town Ghosts” is indeed a ghost tour, Luciano said, it’s also a history lesson.
A ghost tour allows the city’s past to be brought to life through the tales of death, but in a way that’s more entertaining than depressing, he said. That’s why Luciano encourages Fort Worth residents new or old to give the tour a shot, to learn more about the city’s history.
Each stop has been researched to give guests as much history as possible, while also getting their blood pumping, he said.
“Not only are ghost tours told to our guests, but also the historical background that gave the spirits meaning,” Luciano said. “Guests can expect to have a little bit of fun, a little bit of a scare and a little adrenaline to the system.”
Tickets can be purchased online at $25 a piece. Additional items are available, such as a 30-minute tour extender for $6 and a $7 EMF (electromagnetic field) detector to alert to any potential spirits nearby.
The “Cow Town Ghosts: Hauntings of the Wild West” is held nightly at the Livestock Exchange at 131 E. Exchange Ave.
