Fort Worth, Texas

The Stockyards

Immersive storytelling with repurposed materials & historic artifacts

Project type

Environmental Graphic Design Wayfinding Signage Design

Project sector

Retail Environments & Graphic Design Civic Design
A procession of horse-drawn covered wagons and cowboy-hatted men on horseback travels down a brick road, passing beneath a sign that reads “Fort Worth Stock Yards” in all capital letters. A crowd watches from the sidewalk, with several people holding American flags. On either side of them, historical buildings line the street. The photo is in black and white.

Cirincione, Nick. Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train Ends Its Route in the Fort Worth Stockyards, photograph, 1986

Project info

Client Majesty Realty Co

Developer Stockyards Heritage Development Co

Architect Bennett Partners

Architect HKS

Landscape Studio Outside

Landscape Lifescapes International

Celebrating History, Preserving the Past

The Fort Worth Stockyards stand as the beating heart of the city — a place where history, culture, and community collide. But their influence stretches far beyond Fort Worth, drawing in those who cherish the spirit of the West, from rodeo enthusiasts to barbecue lovers. For generations, the Stockyards have evolved alongside the city, embracing change while preserving their rich heritage.

Closeup of a sign. Its face is made of weathered, rust-brown metal. The sign’s text, which is cut off in the image so the words can’t be fully read, consists of two layers: behind, a heavy serif font with rounded corners, and in front, a stroke font made of neon light tubes. There is an ornament resembling a calligraphic flourish above and below the lettering, rendered in the rust-brown color of the sign face. A wall is partially visible behind the sign, made of red bricks.

Salvaged Stockyards materials become signage that preserves authenticity.

The sign from the previous image is shown in full. Its text reads “Goods & Chattels”. In the mid-distance behind this sign, another sign with similar construction bears the logo for “Shake Shack”. Both signs are mounted to a long, red brick façade. The façade is lined with desert plants and trees. Outside Shake Shack, there’s a row of tables with folded umbrellas.
A free-standing sign made of weathered, rust-brown sheet metal, anchored into the brick sidewalk with two thick, weathered industrial pipes and pipe fittings. Text in all capital letters on the front of the sign reads, “The Fort Worth Herd. The Cattle Drive. World’s only twice-daily cattle drive. Daily 11:30am & 4pm. Everyday* Weather Permitting. *Excluding Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.” A crude map below the text shows the locations of “Mule Barn D”, “Mule Barn A”, “RFD TV”, “Stockyards Station”, “Livestock Exchange Building”, “Viewing Pens”, and “Parking.”

The stockyards represent the heart of Fort Worth

Test attribution, Test citation
A circular sign with the text “Howdy Y’all” in a casual script font and a faded image of a cowboy on horseback. The sign face is made of a dark, weathered metal. It is suspended from a weathered, rust-orange industrial pipe that has been bent into a semicircle around the sign face, then extends straight down out of frame. Blurred in the distance behind the sign, there’s a vibrant streetscape.
A sign hangs suspended from an overhang. The sign reads “Mule Alley” in large text above, and “Est. 1912” in small text below. The large text is made of two layers: a rear layer of bold, antique slab serif font in white, and a front layer of neon light tubing. The small text sits at the center of a calligraphic flourish ornament. The sign itself is painted in a gloss brown color with a thin, white border of neon light tubing. Behind the sign, there’s a tree and the open, gray sky.
A building in historical Spanish colonial style architecture, with beige stucco walls and red clay tile roofs. Applied lettering on the façade reads “Fort Worth / Live Stock Exchange” in all capital letters in a swashed, Tuscan serif font. A cast metal bull’s head sits between the two lines of text. In front of the building, an American flag hangs from a natural wood pole.

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A cantilever sign attached to a pole, with reinforcement anchors to a brick wall. Text on the sign reads “Stockyards Station” in all capital letters in an antique slab serif. The sign face is made of two sheets of weathered, rust-brown sheet metal bordered with rivets, arranged to resemble a sledgehammer.