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HISTORY
The Overton Park, Overton West
and Overton Woods neighborhoods are located five to six miles
southwest of the Central Business District along the Trinity
River.
Originally part of Lemuel G.
Edwards' Edwards Ranch founded in 1846, these neighborhoods were
named after his son, Cass Overton Edwards, who was born on the
ranch in 1851. Cass Overton Edwards later drove a portion of
his cattle holdings to Tahoka, near Lubbock, Texas, but still
maintained his land holdings in Fort Worth.
In 1913, the Edwards family sold
some of their land to the City of Fort Worth for Trinity Park,
but still held extensive amounts of land southwest of downtown.
The Edwards family formed the
Cassco Land Company, and in 1954 began developing their land.
Most of the homes in Overton Park were built between 1955 and
1968.
Overton West began being developed in 1968, and Overton Woods in 1979. The Southwest Parkway will cross some of the existing Edwards land. Cassco Land Company is making plans now to develop more land along that corridor, including some commerical use and residential with very upscale residential lots along the bluff area.
The Edwards family still owns part of the undeveloped land in and around Overton Park and still have their home in the old ranch house off of Hulen. An area that was designated as the Edwards Ranch School site is now where Tanglewood Elementary School is located.
The hills of Overton Park were
part of a working cattle ranch until 1954, and overgrown lawns
in the area show stalks of KR and Silver Bluestem grasses over
the St. Augustine. Most of the trees in this area were planted
by homeowners, except in Overton Woods bottom land near the river,
where there are many old and stately trees.
In Overton West each home must
have a rear-entry two-car attached garage. Deed restrictions
also forbade livestock raising and specified that homes in Overton
Woods must be larger than 2,800 square feet. Deed restrictions
on these neighborhoods include the provision that the homes must
be constructed of brick or stone, and that stucco or precast
concrete not be considered masonry. Roofing materials must be
earth-tone color and must be of a certain weight.
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