Dana Roe Collection

Tarrant County Archives > Holdings > Named Collections > R > Roe, Dana

Arlington Heights bus on West 7th by Montgomery Ward, 1940

Arlington Heights Bus at Montgomery Ward on West Seventh Street, November 28, 1940

Historical Note

The Fort Worth Transit Company was established out of a reorganization of the Northern Texas Traction Company in the 1940s. The Northern Texas Traction Company was established in the early 1900s with electric streetcar lines. The company was sold and reorganized after the Great Depression, becoming the Fort Worth Transit Company and transitioning to buses.

Photographs in this collection show department heads and other employees of the Northern Texas Traction Company, rail cars, buses from the Fort Worth Transit Company, damaged buses, and employees of the Fort Worth Transit Company.

Dana Roe donated these photographs which were collected by family friend Thomas Rosser during his time working at the Fort Worth Transit Company. Rosser eventually became transportation superintendent for the company in 1945 or 1946.

Scope and Contents

The Dana Roe Collection consists solely of black and white photographic prints focused on the Northern Texas Traction Company and the Fort Worth Transit Company. Photographs with identified photographers were taken by Jernigan Photo Service, G. A. McAfee, W. D. Smith, and White Motor Company Advertising Department, Photographs are dated from 1907 to the 1940s.

Materials in this collection consist of the following:

  • Arlington Heights bus in front of Montgomery Ward building, 1940
  • Bus damage after wrecks, 1940s
  • Bus garage, 1940s
  • Buses on various streets in Fort Worth, 1940
  • Dallas Pike at Tandy Lake, undated
  • Fifth Avenue bus fitted with Edward window fixtures card, undated
  • Fort Worth Transit Company employees standing in front of a bus, 1930s-1940s
  • Northern Texas Traction Company department heads, early 1900s
  • Northern Texas Traction Company general office and staff, 1916
  • Northern Texas Traction Company rail cars and rail lines, 1900s-1940s
  • Portrait of A. F. Townsend, president of Fort Worth Transit Company, 1940s
  • Portrait of C. A. Watkins, 1940s