Gamblers & Gangsters: Fort Worth's Jacksboro Highway in the 1940s & 1950s

by Ann Arnold

A gripping account of rampant crime in Fort Worth, Texas, during the 1930s, through the 1950s, with hoodlums, gamblers, murderers, dopers, pimps, and lawmen on the take. The author recounts the days when Fort Worth was as wide open as Las Vegas with gambling and crime that rivaled New York and Chicago with mob hits, exploding cars, and late-night police raids. The personalities were larger than life, some went on to fame in other parts of the country such as Las Vegas gambling pioneer Benny Binion. While others met an early demise such as Herbert "The Cat" Noble. Jacksboro Highway resembled "The Strip" in Las Vegas with casinos and night clubs that served as the epicenter for illegal activity, and the money and the blood flowed, while the law turned a blind eye to the mayhem. Ann Arnold gives a detailed account of almost two dozen gangland slayings and spills the beans, naming names of those indicted, complete with the final report of a special grand jury that ended the era.

Genres: History

232 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

About the author

There is more than one author with this name
Ann Arnold served for 31 years in the Fort Worth Independent School District. For fifteen years she was a history teacher, then eight years as a psychology social worker, and then supervisor of 138 Mental health workers as program director for the home school coordinator/counselor departments.

Reviews

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Arnold does a good job of preserving some of the rapidly disappearing history of the threshold that lies to the west of the "Gateway to the West." Gamblers and Gangsters presents a broad, topical history of the route known as the Jacksboro Highway which links downtown Ft Worth to the unique land and history that spans the western section of North Texas. With origins spanning back to the much storied, and much more celebrated, "Hell's Half Acre" Gamblers and Gangsters picks up the story of Fort Worth where the gamblers, gamers, ginners, shiners, sinners, hookers and hot-pillow joints were pushed out of view from down town Ft Worth and left to congregate around a strip of black top leading through the edges of what had been Comanche territory just over a century previous.

Just like the grand jury that turned the tide against corruption in City Hall and undercut the powerful forces that made the "wild, West side" stay so viable for so many years, time has done its own handiwork to eliminate any trace of the illegal card games, the car bombings and the other sundry crimes of vice that once ruled supreme here. With the exception of a few rusted signs, a few disguised buildings, and the fading memories of an aged population there is precious little left to mark this colorful chapter in Ft Worth's history.

[Jim Dearing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Read

My review would have been higher if the pages could have been turned like a book instead of scrolled, had I known they were scrolled, I would not have purchased this book!

[Shelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew what was lurking in the past just down the road from where I live. Such interesting things and sadly most of these places are completely gone. No trace.

[Mike Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable book. I was unaware of the extent of crime and corruption in my hometown in decades before I was born. Gambling and gangland killings...well documented and very enlightening.

[Paula Clements · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

Great book and fascinating information I did not know. I would highly recommend this book and you will not be able to put it down.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I spend most of my weekends near Jacksboro Highway at Lake Worth. While at the laundry mat one Sunday my fiancé, a police officer in Sansom Park and a retired sherriff started talking about the history of Jacksboro Highway. He told my fiancé about the book. I bought it and was intrigued. I can get in the car and drive up and down Jacksboro Highway and see the remnants of that time. It's a short read and very informative.

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the few books discussing the rackets in Texas. It is a quick read and successfully introduces some wild characters; there is no larger discussion of the rackets in Texas as a whole, or even in northern Texas, the setting for the book.

[Bea Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There is so much bad in the best ofus/ And so much good in the worst of us/ That it does not behoove any of us/ To talk about the rest of us." Rev. Erwin F Bohmfalk at the funeral service for killer, Cecil Green.

Guess that sums it up.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of boring, didn't catch my attention well.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned that ft worth and arlington have quite a colorful past! Very interesting if you live in either city.

[Janice Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I grew up in Lake Worth and my Pa used to tell me about the gangsters, it was very interesting to me.

[Robert Attaway Sr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history of Jacksboro hwy. Story and years seems to go back and forth so flow is a little uneven but a good read overall.