History
Tarrant County, one of 26 counties created out of the Peters Colony, was established in 1849. It was named for General Edward H. Tarrant, commander of militia forces of the Republic of Texas at the Battle of Village Creek in 1841. The village of Grapevine; the Texas Ranger outpost of Johnson's Station (in what is now south Arlington); and Bird's Fort, a short-lived private fort just south of present-day Euless, were early areas of western civilization in the region.On the bluff where the Tarrant County Courthouse now stands, a military post was established in 1849 by a company of the 2nd U.S. Dragoons...The fort was named in honor of General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the Mexican War and commander of United States forces in this region.
Even though Fort Worth was abandoned as a military outpost in 1853, the settlers who had made their homes near the fort remained. Old fort buildings were turned into a hotel, a general store, and a doctor's office. In the western part of the county White Settlement was formed by people from Tennessee. In the southeast settlers of predominantly Scotch-Irish background founded Gipson. The fastest growing area was in the northeast, near Grapevine Prairie.