Genealogy and Local History Blog

Monthly Archive: October 2023

Local History

The Great Grapevine Road Fight, Part V

In mid-June 1931 a large motorcade of about 150 cars and 500 people from Riverside visited Grapevine to celebrate the East Belknap project. This project was seen as very important to Riverside and all of Northeast Tarrant County because it would give easy access to Fort Worth through Riverside from Grapevine, Lewisville, Irving, Smithfield and places farther northeast. The Grapevine Sun urged as many citizens as possible to greet the group and attend its 1½-hour entertainment program. This, however, was not the end of the Great Grapevine Road Fight. Grading of four miles of State Highway No. 121 had been completed across Tarrant and Dallas Counties to the Denton County line by December 1931, and concrete paving began in early June 1932. But roadwork stopped at the Denton County line because six Denton County property owners holding twenty-four acres had not given right-of-way for the 1½-mile stretch through there to...

Local History

The Great Grapevine Road Fight, Part IV

On March 13, 1929 Commissioner Sandy Wall announced that the right-of-way for the new Fort Worth-Grapevine Road, known officially as State Highway No. 121, would increase from eighty to 100 feet wide. The eighty-feet increase was already in place so the additional twenty feet would be sought in order to meet the State Highway Commission’s requirement. The first authorized offer for the first strip of land near Pleasant Glade was made by County Engineer Damon A. Davis to Carl Yates at the end of March. Commissioner Wall stated that no more than this one parcel of land would be condemned; all other right-of-way would be obtained through negotiation with land owners. The road grading and building process from the A. J. Anderson corner to Grapevine was almost finished around this time, and in due course would be ready for paving. When completed, about two miles would be cut from the...