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HISTORY
The Como neighborhood, about
five miles west of the Fort Worth Central Business District,
lies on the western border of Arlington Heights, and includes
six original surveys made between 1854 and 1874.
The H.B. Chamberlain Investment
Company of Denver, Colorado, built the Lake Como dam in 1889.
The area included a beautiful recreation resort with pavilion,
casino and amusement rides, and was named for Como, Italy. A
power plant was also constructed on the lake to furnish power
for the street car line which provided transportation between
the lake and Ye Arlington Inn, on the present corner of Merrick
and Crestline.
In 1894, the Inn burned down
and the Chamberlain Investment Company failed in the financial
panic of 1893, forcing them to sell the resort.
The lake was a center of young
peoples' festivities with pageants, water carnivals and fish
bakes. Lillian Russell, an actress and singer popular in the
"Gay Nineties," visited the lake and was impressed
by the large body of water. After the sale of the resort, the
lake continued to be the center of events, such as the 1906 "A
Night in Venice" which featured boats decorated with lights
and named for the belles of the city. Miss Imogene Sanguinet's
boat won first prize and a dance followed with 250 people in
attendance.
As a result of the financial
panic and resort sale, the lots in the Como area sold for very
little money. With the land to the west of the lake so cheap,
the domestic servants who worked in affluent Arlington Heights
and River Crest homes took advantage of the opportunity to own
property near their employment, buying and developing the area
beginning around 1906. They were far enough out of town to enable
them to have gardens and some livestock. A real sense of community
developed. A flood in 1922, which inundated other areas of Fort
Worth, brought added population to the Como neighborhood at that
time.
Streets in Como were platted
in the 1890's and most remained unpaved until the 1950's.
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