Three Sisters Bridges, Masonic Temple added to endangered places list

The Three Sisters Bridges over the Trinity River’s West Fork at Samuels Avenue have been added to Historic Fort Worth’s Most Endangered Places list, the preservation group said Tuesday.

The Fort Worth Masonic Temple at 1100 Henderson St. was also included for the first time. The 2016 list also includes the Wayside Church of God in Christ, 2100 Beckham Place, which was on the 2004, 2005 and 2007 lists.

The nonprofit group releases an Endangered Places list every May as part of National Preservation Month. The list is designed to increase awareness of historic places and sites that have been neglected and are in jeopardy of being demolished and lost for good. The group started the list in 2004.

“Historic Fort Worth’s Most Endangered List is used to raise awareness of our historic resources that are threatened in some way,” said John Roberts, the organization’s chairman. “The threats can come from development pressures, lack of funds or means to restore the structures, or demolition by neglect. Historic Fort Worth uses the Most Endangered List as an education tool.”

The Three Sisters Bridges were built around 1900 and are owned by two railroads, Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway and Union Pacific. Over time, several railroads operated the tracks, including the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe; the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway; the Missouri-Kansas-Texas; and the Chicago, Rock Island and Texas Railway, Historic Fort Worth said.

BNSF plans to remove and replace one of the bridges to better handle daily freight loads, the group said. The bridges were included on the list to raise awareness about the proposed bridge replacement, the group said.

“The three railroad bridges are a reminder of Fort Worth’s past, when the Swift and Armour plants were new,” Roberts said. “These three bridges were constructed at a time when large steel trusses were used to span across the Trinity River.”

The Fort Worth Masonic Lodge was completed in 1932. It was designed by the Wiley G. Clarkson & Co. architecture firm, which also designed the Sinclair Building and STS Tower downtown. It became a recorded Texas historical landmark in 1984.

The Wayside Church of God in Christ is the last remaining building representing the early African-American community known as Trezevant Hill, according to the listing. The church was the site of the radio and TV ministry of Bishop R.E. Ranger from the 1930s to the 1950s. The radio show reached some 6 million people.

The property is in the path of the city’s growing Medical District. The Ranger family doesn’t have the money to fix and preserve the church, or an adaptive reuse plan, Historic Fort Worth said.

For example, in February, Cook Children’s Health Care System bought 3.6 acres of mostly vacant land roughly between Pennsylvania Avenue and Cannon Street, and Ninth and Tenth avenues, a few blocks north of Wayside Church.

The hospital said Monday that it has no immediate plans for the property.

“This is considered a long-term investment,” Cook spokeswoman Winifred King said. “It was available and we bought it.”

The land was sold by Fitzco Investments in Fort Worth and 700 Ninth Avenue Llc. in Benbrook, deed records show.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Three Sisters Bridges, Masonic Temple added to endangered places list."