Page 327 - Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

BENBROOK HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

in what is now the Benbrook Lakeside subdivision. When the U. S. entered the war, the field was renamed Benbrook
Field and served to train American pilots.

The most famous casualty at Benbrook Field was Vernon W. Blyth Castle, part of the famous Vernon and Irene Castle
dance team; the duo was best known for introducing the tango to the United States in 1913. Captain Castle, recipient
of the French Croix de Guerre for his combat missions over Germany and Commander of the 84th Canadian Training
Squad, was killed on February 15, 1918. Captain Castle's plane crashed while avoiding another airplane that was
landing. Captain Castle's pet monkey and his student both survived the crash; the student's survival is attributed to
the fact that he sat in the seat normally occupied by the instructor. The funeral for Castle was one of the largest held
in Fort Worth and drew international attention. Castle's body was transported to New York for burial. The training
field and the thirty-four buildings and hangars were razed in the 1920s. A memorial for Vernon Castle was erected in
1966 at the crash site near the corner of Vernon Castle Avenue and Cozby West Street. The memorial included a replica
of a Curtis Jenny and photographs of Castle and the airfield. As his eagle scout project, Jerret Martin, a Benbrook
scout, restored the monument in 1997. The monument was rededicated as part of the City's fiftieth anniversary; the
ceremony was attended by dignitaries from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.

The only remaining building is an ammunition warehouse west of Highway 377 (Benbrook Boulevard); the foundations
of several buildings can be found behind some of the homes along Cozby North Street. The City contacted the National
Archives, the Defense Department, and the Texas State Library to find original plans for the airfield, but to no avail.
Following the closure of Benbrook Field, the land was purchased by William Monnig and used as a dairy. The dairy
was later acquired by Manning Trammell and then later by Mrs. Grace Cozby.

GROWTH OF BENBROOK

1920s and 1930s

Benbrook's population was estimated to be thirty-three people in both 1920 and 1930. The community's business base
consisted of two stores. Other nearby communities in the 1930s included Chapin (twenty-five voters), Wheatland
(population of forty and a school), and Primrose.

CITY OF BENBROOK 2018-19 ANNUAL BUDGET
326