John P. King, Developer of Oakhurst
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John Porter King was nine when his family moved from their Brenham farm to the 500-person village of Fort Worth in 1869. After local schools, King attended Add-Ran College (now TCU) in Thorp Spring, then was a clerk at B.C. Evans Dry Goods Store downtown.
At 28, King was elected Tarrant County Clerk, serving 10 years. After 1998, he built an ice plant and wholesale produce business on E. 9th Street. In 1905, King gave his travelling salesmen a line of candy to sell, then established King Candy Company. He always insisted his salesmen be goodwill ambassadors for Fort Worth.
Eventually King sold his Southern Cold Storage Co., a produce company, to the business that became industry giant Ben E. Keith. “Maybe I sold the wrong business,” King said, “for just look what Ben E. Keith has done with the produce business.”
A lifelong interest in real estate led King to be one of the developers of Camp Bowie and its commercial area during World War I. After the City annexed Riverside and many other areas in 1922, King’s Oakhurst Land Company developed our neighborhood and, in 1928, he developed Monticello.
King served as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce executive committee and as a director of Fort Worth National Bank. In 1925 he led the adoption of the council-manager form of government. In 1928, the Exchange Club honored him as the city’s most outstanding citizen.
In 1946, King celebrated the anniversary of King Candy by honoring his 400 employees at a banquet. He thanked them for their loyalty with a tear in his eye.
When King died in August 1948, a Star-Telegram editorial noted that King’s “personal charm, modesty, kindliness and self-effacing nature” had won him friends everywhere. “He was a type of person who inspired confidence, respect and affection. His gift of personality was backed by character and ability.”
King’s wife, Lorena, died just months before he did. He was survived by sons Porter, president of the candy company; Robert, a real estate man; and Clinton Blair King, a well-known artist.
One hundred years after John King began developing Oakhurst, the neighborhood can be counted as one of his greatest accomplishments for its stability, its natural and architectural charm and, most of all, for the wonderful place it has been and still is for Fort Worthians to live and raise their families.
At 28, King was elected Tarrant County Clerk, serving 10 years. After 1998, he built an ice plant and wholesale produce business on E. 9th Street. In 1905, King gave his travelling salesmen a line of candy to sell, then established King Candy Company. He always insisted his salesmen be goodwill ambassadors for Fort Worth.
Eventually King sold his Southern Cold Storage Co., a produce company, to the business that became industry giant Ben E. Keith. “Maybe I sold the wrong business,” King said, “for just look what Ben E. Keith has done with the produce business.”
A lifelong interest in real estate led King to be one of the developers of Camp Bowie and its commercial area during World War I. After the City annexed Riverside and many other areas in 1922, King’s Oakhurst Land Company developed our neighborhood and, in 1928, he developed Monticello.
King served as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce executive committee and as a director of Fort Worth National Bank. In 1925 he led the adoption of the council-manager form of government. In 1928, the Exchange Club honored him as the city’s most outstanding citizen.
In 1946, King celebrated the anniversary of King Candy by honoring his 400 employees at a banquet. He thanked them for their loyalty with a tear in his eye.
When King died in August 1948, a Star-Telegram editorial noted that King’s “personal charm, modesty, kindliness and self-effacing nature” had won him friends everywhere. “He was a type of person who inspired confidence, respect and affection. His gift of personality was backed by character and ability.”
King’s wife, Lorena, died just months before he did. He was survived by sons Porter, president of the candy company; Robert, a real estate man; and Clinton Blair King, a well-known artist.
One hundred years after John King began developing Oakhurst, the neighborhood can be counted as one of his greatest accomplishments for its stability, its natural and architectural charm and, most of all, for the wonderful place it has been and still is for Fort Worthians to live and raise their families.