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CITY OF BENBROOK 2019-20 ANNUAL BUDGET

The Peter Boaz family arrived in Birdville from Kentucky in 1873 and the family subsequently moved to Benbrook in 1878. Peter and Martha
had nine children including: Will N., Hiram Abiff, Ex, and Z. Hiram Boaz, converted at one of the Old Rawhide Camp meetings, became one
of the early leaders of the Methodist church in Benbrook. Hiram Boaz became a Methodist Bishop in 1922 and president of both Polytechnic
College in Fort Worth (later known as Texas Wesleyan University) and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. After Peter Boaz's death, Martha
Boaz married James M. Benbrook. J. A. Childers, ranch foreman for W. J. Boaz's 3,000 acre ranch, and later constable and county commissioner,
built his home on Old Benbrook Road during the 1870s. Z. Boaz donated 136 acres of land to the City of Fort Worth as a public park in
1928; the land was donated to Fort Worth only because Benbrook did not have a municipal government or park department at that time. Z.
Boaz died in 1935 and is buried along with his wife, Teck, who died in 1970 and an infant son, Thank, who died in 1898.

The Benbrook family had arrived in the Miranda area in 1874 from Illinois. The family built a large Victorian house on Walnut Creek east of
the community in 1891. James Benbrook, known as "Squire" because of his English heritage, served as Justice of the Peace for many years.
James M. Benbrook was born in Posey County, Indiana on June 20, 1831. He was the grandson of Ezekial G. Benbrook, born in North Carolina
in 1748 and served as a Colonel with George Washington at Valley Forge. Ezekial's son James and his wife, Sarah Shadowen, were the
parents of James. M. Benbrook. The family moved to Hamilton County, Illinois in 1845; James Benbrook married Martha Metcalf in 1852.
James Benbrook served as a sergeant with the 40th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and was wounded

in the hip in 1862. Following the Civil War, Benbrook and his family traveled south for his health; they settled in Miranda in November 1876.
James and Martha had six children; three died in infancy. Of the other three children - Albert L. became a teacher, Monroe went into the
furniture business in Dallas, and Ida married Dr. E. W. Snyder and moved to Brownwood. Martha died in July 1884 and was buried by the
Baptist Church.

The families that lived north of the railroad station along Mary's Creek also built a school and church known as Chapin School after early settler
I. H. Chapin. The Wallace’s settled along Mary's Creek near the intersection of Chapin Road and Chapin School Road.

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS

By the turn of the century, some of the initial transportation routes were established; many of these routes are still in use today. The Texas and
Pacific Railroad line is now operated by Union Pacific and travels along Mary's and Walnut Creeks. A rail accident at the Mary's Creek trestle
sent eighteen cattle cars into the creek in 1902 or 1903. The main settlement of Benbrook, located within a four-block area around the railroad
station, was located near the present junction of Interstate Highway 20 and U. S. Highway 377 along Aledo Road. The settlement was reached
from the east along the present Old Benbrook Road and Stove Foundry Road (now known as Vickery Boulevard). Winscott-Plover Road
extended south along its present route to Dutch Branch, now submerged by Benbrook Lake. A road extended east from Winscott-Plover Road
near the present Mercedes Street to cross the Clear Fork of the Trinity. Remnants of this county road are still evident on undeveloped land north
of Timbercreek.

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