Brief History

The Blue Ownership

Based on Tarrant County Deeds, F. G. Yarbrough purchased the property in 1900 for $500. He then sold the lot, described in metes and bounds, to George W. Blue for $525 [1]. The family of George Blue lived there, at 1015 Cactus from 1901 until 1906 [2], when he sold it to John H. Hogg for $1800 [1]. The value increase of the lot strongly suggests that the home was built after George W. Blue bought the land in 1901 and before the Fort Worth City Directory of 1901-1902 was published. This city directory shows that he ran a plastering business (Blue & Penewell) from the home at 1015 Cactus [1].

The same city directory also shows that F. G. Yarbrough was a carpenter, contractor, and builder living on 5th Avenue [3]. This suggests that F. G. Yarbrough could have built the home for George Blue as part of a land deal. The other obvious possibility is that George Blue built, or had the home built for his family.

During the Blue family occupancy, his daughter Mabel met Andrew Cowan, a young man living with his family across Washington Avenue [4]. The Blue family moved from the Cactus Home to College Avenue in 1906 [5], then Andrew and Mabel married in 1907 [4]. The newlyweds first moved a few houses South of the Cactus Home, across from some relatives [6], then over to College Avenue, next to the Blue family's new place [7]. Both of these homes are gone, replaced by new structures. George Blue went on to form a partnership with Fredrick M. Kuhlman, forming Kuhlman & Blue which had an office in the Flatiron Building in downtown Fort Worth from 1911 to 1915 [8, 9].

George W. Blue sold the Cactus Home in 1906 to John H. Hogg [1], and his family (G. (Gilbert?) Ora, Perry C., and probably wife, Sarah Ann Frances [Mills]) lived in the home from 1907 until 1908 [10], when they moved out and eventually rented the home to Henry O. Slack [11]. Henry was the proprietor of the Hydraulic Building Stone Company, which was located on the North side of the Trinity River, at the foot of the suspension bridge that crossed the river before the Paddock Viaduct was built. By 1910, the Slack family moved to the 1900 block of Washington [12] and later to Cameron, Texas with seven children [13].

The Baird Family Residence

Mrs. Ninnie Baird, her husband William Baird, and her eight children moved from 512 Hemphill and into the home on 1015 Cactus in 1910 [14, 15, 16, 17, 18]. I haven't been able to determine the exact date, but it's sometime after the census of 1910, which was taken on April 15 [19] in that area.

This move took place two years after the founding of Mrs. Baird's Bread in 1908. In the short period from 1910 to 1911, baking was done in the house on Cactus, then in a converted servant's house in the back, and then in a combination shed and storefront built by her landlord (probably John H. Hogg and his wife, Sarah A. F., since they owned the property at the time) after 1911 [20].

The family was living there when her husband passed away on December 20, 1911 [15, 16, 26]. She began to work up to sixteen hours day baking her bread, but somehow would occasionally find time to ride with her son, Hoyt, in the delivery carriage that was pulled by Ned, their horse. An interpretation of this carriage can be seen in the Baird's home painting by Budd Briggs.

In 1917, the family bought their first delivery car. It was a Ford that was customized into a delivery truck on which they painted, "Eat More Mrs. Baird's Bread" [15].

The Baird family moved out of the home by sometime in 1918.

After the Baird Family Leaves

Also by 1918, Fredrick M. Kuhlman (of the previously mentioned Kuhlman & Blue) moved into the house catty-corner from the Cactus Home, to 1728 Washington Ave [21]. Then by 1920, he moved across Cactus to the former Cowan home (of Andrew Cowan, mentioned above) and lived there many years, earning the home the name, Cowan-Kuhlman House [22].

In 1920, the Tuck family lived at the Cactus Home. The head of the house was Mary Elizabeth Tuck, widow of Thomas E Tuck. She had two sons with her. The 1920 Census shows them as Arthur (a confectionery salesman) and Ollie [23]. The Fort Worth City Directory shows the only other resident as Jas O Tuck, who worked as a clerk at La Beaume & Terrell [24].

Between 1918 and 1922, the home was expanded to the South, along Washington. Perhaps three rooms were added to the interior along with a porch on the West side, and another porch on the East side [25], which no longer exists. A Washington Avenue address was added and in the ensuing years, the house was rented out as a duplex. Depending on which side of the duplex you lived on, you either had a Cactus (or Jefferson) address, or a Washington address.

The home seems to have stayed in the Hogg family until 1936 and has since changed hands many times [1]. This Hogg family moved to Wise County, and then some descendants, to California [1]. The home has been occupied by at least ten distinct families from 1928 to 1951, beginning with the Hugh B. Edens family renting it for four years. In 1946, the two structures at 1801 and 1803 Washington Avenue were listed as the "Washington Rooms" and the "Coefficient Lodge" in the Fort Worth City Directory. While most families only lived in the home for a year or two before moving away, I've now been able to trace three families that lived there for five years or more. One for five years beginning in 1928, another for at least five years beginning in 1952, and the last one for about five years beginning around 1968. I've spoken with a member of the family that resided there in the 60's and she has verified the house was rented out as a duplex. By 1999, the home was extremely run down and was purchased for rehabilitation. This work was completed in about 2001, and the home was again rented out, nearly a hundred years later. Now, one hundred years after Mrs. Baird's Bread was founded, the home is once again occupied by its owners.

[1] Tarrant County Deed Records
[2] Fort Worth City Directories, 1901 through 1906
[3] Fort Worth City Directory, 1901-1902
[4] "Goodly Heritage: The Cowan Family" by Verna Hovey Cowan, p 174
[5] Need Reference Confirmation - Probably from Fort Worth City Directory, 1906-1907
[6] "Goodly Heritage: The Cowan Family" by Verna Hovey Cowan, p ???
[7] Census 1910, Fort Worth, Ward 8, District 134, entry for Andrew Cowan on College Ave., beginning on line 91.
[8] Fort Worth City Directories, 1900 through 1916
[9] Tarrant County Historic Resources Survey
[10] Fort Worth City Directory, 1907-1908
[11] Fort Worth City Directory, 1909-1910
[12] Census 1910, Fort Worth, Texas Ward 8, District 134, Page 4, Line 80
[13] Census 1920, Cameron, Texas, Justice Precinct 3, District 29, Pages 24-25, Line 93.
[14] Fort Worth City Directory, various editions from 1911 to 1918
[15] "Mother's Legacy Lives On", Fort Worth Star Telegram, Sunday, May 8, 1977
[16] "Tradition of Gift Loaf Will Be Kept as Mrs. Baird Celebrates Birthday", Fort Worth Star Telegram, Wednesday Morning, May 23, 1956
[17] "Sweetie Ladd's Historic Fort Worth", Sweetie Ladd, Cissy
Stewart Lale, Page 48
[18] "Page 6" from an unknown source
[19] United States Census of 1910, District 121, Ward 6
[20] See the "Location" Post
[21] Fort Worth City Directory, 1918
[22] Fort Worth City Directory, 1920
[23] Census 1920, Ward 8, District 132, Page 24
[24] Fort Worth City Directory, 1920
[25] Sanborn Fire Maps, Volume 4, 1927, p. 69
[26] Ancestry.com OneWorldTree
[27] Various Fort Worth City Directories