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Commercial row on S. Bois d'Arc between W. Front and W. Main streets, built 1893. Businesses (L to R): Forney (later Farmer's) National Bank, F.M. Adams & Bro. Drug Co. (at one time housed U.S. Post Office also), E.C. Joyce Jewelry, Dailey & McKellar Opera Hall (2-story building partially visible) with J.C. Douglas Dry Goods on lower floor. Men L to R: George W. Voiers, Walter D. Adams (leaning on the post of Forney's first street light, a gas-light).

S. Bois d'Arc Street, northwest side in 1893. Click on the photo to see a larger view.

  
 
J.A. Loyd General Merchandise Store, S. Bois d'Arc Street. Click on image for a larger view.
J.A. Loyd's General Merchandise store on S. Bois d'Arc between Broad and Front Streets. The building is currently being used by a health center.
  
 
Northwest side of S. Bois d'Arc Street at Main Street today.
Northwest side of Bois d'Arc and Main Streets today. Click on the photo for a larger view.
 
 
S. Bois d'Arc today, northwest side. Click on photo for a larger view.
The northwest side of S. Bois past Main Street still has several businesses today, including a hair salon, auto supply and a fitness center.
  
 

The southeast side of S. Bois d'Arc St. as it appears today. The Fire Station on the right was built in 1913.
Southeast side of Bois d'Arc today. Click on photo for a larger view.
  
     
 

S. Bois d'Arc Street was part of the bustling commercial center of Forney around the turn of the 20th Century. Around 1900, businesses were being built further away from the railroad tracks, starting on the corner of S. Bois d'Arc between Main and Trinity Streets. In 1901, the businesses still left facing the tracks on Pacific Street were destroyed by fire and little effort was given to rebuild them. Instead, growth and development moved further away covering more of S. Bois d'Arc and Main Streets.

During the time of all this construction, roads still were not paved. After a heavy rain, and during most of the Winter and Spring, downtown was a pit of black, sticky mud, making transportation difficult if not impossible. Because of Forney's flat streets and poor drainage, the town developed a bad reputation far and wide. A local newspaper correspondent with tongue in cheek urged any young man broken-hearted of being jilted by his girl to come to Forney to find something that would stick with him--the mud!

After the artesian well was successfully built in 1909, a public water system followed in 1910 and a public sewage system after that in 1911. This helped a little, but without paved roads, the increasing number of automobiles in town were still slipping and sliding around in the muddy streets. So by 1912, a considerable effort was on its way to smooth and gravel the streets of Forney.

 

  
       
Photos and information taken from Jerry M. Flook's
Forney Country: A History of Northwestern Kaufman County.
Used by permission.

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