National Register Listing

Waggoner, W. T. Building

810 Houston St., Fort Worth, TX

Since its completion in 1920, the W. T. Waggoner Building, a Texas recognition of the Chicago School skyscraper designed by the prominent Fort Worth firm Sanguinet and Staats, stood as a physical manifestation of the crucial role played by Fort Worth in the national oil boom. For many years, Fort Worth had been the focal point of the Southwest for the enormous cattle industry, but by 1920 this regional role was expanded to include the burgeoning oil industry, fueled by rapid expansion of auto travel, industrial growth, and the demands of a nation at war. "Fort Worth - Center of Texas Oil Industry" (New York Times, 18 June 1919) was the refining center of the Southwest, as well as a food and transportation hub. The urban population of Fort Worth was expanding rapidly (well over 106,000 at the 1920 census) with subsequent strains on the housing and office spaces of the city. To meet the influx of new citizens and business, housing construction was stepped up to priority levels and commercial construction increased to all time high levels. The W. T. Waggoner Building represented a large portion of this new construction. W. T. Waggoner was one of a few select cattlemen turned multimillionaire due to oil discoveries on their ranches. A flamboyant, hard-nosed man of legend, Waggoner recollected his first oil strike: having found oil while drilling for water, he had said, "Damn the oil, I want water!". Accepting his fate, however, he amassed one of the largest oil fortunes in Texas, rumored to be in excess of fifty million dollars. Waggoner's wealth enabled him to become one of the most respected and nfluential men in Texas; he entertained such notables as President Teddy Roosevelt on hunting trips to his West Texas ranches. In 1919, Waggoner invested part of his fortune in a new office building for its financial potential, and as a monument to his wealth and power. The building, originally planned for sixteen stories, was ultimately constructed with twenty, for a total height of 210 feet, making it the tallest in the Southwest. A race for height, however, soon produced the Magnolia Building in Dallas and the Farmer and Mechanics Bank Building in Fort Worth, 29 and 24 stories respectively. The appearance of the Waggoner Building marked one of the first recognitions of Chicago School type skyscraper style in Fort Worth. Advanced construction techniques required by the Waggoner Building design called for the skills out-of-state workers as c. S. Lambie, of Denver, to handle the 150,000 rivets and 2,000 tons of steel in its structural frame. The building was intended to be the ultimate in modern offices, featuring the latest conveniences as Otis elevators (the first outside of New York or Chicago), refrigerated drinking water from an artesian well on the property, Austral windows (see description), and a built-in vacuum cleaning system. Begun in March 1919, the building was completed one year later at a final cost of $1,500,000. Architects for the W. T. Waggoner Building were Sanguinet and Staats, a leading architectural firm in Texas with offices in Fort Worth, Houston, Wichita Falls, and San Antonio. Marshall R. Sanguinet, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, came to Fort Worth in 1883; Carl C. Staats, from New York City, came to Texas in 1891 and seven years later joined Sanguinet in Fort Worth. Sanguinet and Staats were responsible for many high-rise structures throughout the Southwest, including the 22-story Amicable Building in Waco, the First National Bank and Carter Buildings in Houston, the 12-story City National Bank Building in Shreveport, and the 24-story Farmer and Mechanics Bank Building, built shortly after the W. T. Waggoner Building. Other notable designs included the Neil P. Anderson and Flatiron Buildings in Fort Worth (both listed on the National Register). The firm ultimately joined with Wyatt C. Hedrick, their chief competitor, who later went on to design the Texas and Pacific Terminal Complex of Fort Worth (listed on the National Register). Tenants in the building have always been predominantly oil exploration and refining firms (including Empire, Consolidated, Sinclair, and Trans-continental Oil Company), oil-related firms, and various other users (the Texas and Pacific and Missouri and Pacific Railroads, and the Continental National Bank). The present owners intend to restore the structure to be an historically accurate 'Class A' office building.

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1979.