|
Keywords |
Niles City historic marker Richest town little village attraction destination display education highway information landmark marker tourist Texas attractive educating Fort Worth Ft. Worth historical marker Historical Site Historical Sites info Louville Veranus Niles meat packing Place of Interest Places of Interest Richest Little Town in the World road road side Roadside Roadsign sign Stockyards Swift and Armour Tarrant County tour tourism tourist attraction Tourist Destination Tourist Destinations towns travel Travel Destination Travel Destinations United States appealing motorway no people sightseeing signage villages United States of America attract history nobody Jason O. Watson / historical-markers.org sightsee daytime destinations displays historic markers landmarks markers South tourists appeal color image educate historic outdoor vertical day historical markers road sides signs tourist attractions tours colour image historical outside day time motorways TX day-time US color images daylight outdoors USA verticals colour images natural light outsides U.S. U.S.A. historic site sign with text |
Caption |
NILES CITY
Incorporated in 1911, the City of Niles was called the "Richest Little Town in the World" because of its size and the number of large businesses located here. Included in the townsite, which eventually covered 1.5 square miles, were major meat packing firms, the Fort Worth Stockyards, two grain elevators, a cotton seed oil company, and a petroleum refinery and pipeline plant. By the early 1920s the town's taxable property was valued at $30,000,000. Niles was named for Louville Veranus Niles (1839-1928), a successful Boston businessman who first visited Fort Worth in 1893. His reorganization of the Fort Worth Packing Company in 1899 led the firms of Swift and Armour to locate their plants in this area in 1902, rapidly increasing nearby business development. Substantial muncipal tax revenues helped make the city of Niles a progressive community. Under the supervision of a Mayor and five Aldermen, funds were used for improvements in roads, utilities,and city services. The two school districts which served the town also benefited from the large tax base. Despite legal efforts beginning in 1921 to remain incorporated and avoid annexation, the City of Niles became part of Fort Worth in 1923. (1981) |