TCBHGS 45th Anniversary Celebration

714 Main Street,Fort Worth TX 76102

26 March, 2022

Description

The Tarrant County Black Historical & Genealogical society will celebrate its 45th anniversary of Black history, legacy, & inspiration  Garden of Eden Neighborhood Association is a non-profit organization. Welcome to the Garden of Eden Neighborhood.  The history of the Garden of Eden neighborhood began over 100 years ago.  It sits in the middle of Fort Worth and Haltom City, Texas, down in the valley in Lower Birdville.  On a clear day, when you are stopped at the railroad track on Carson Street, to allow the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) to pass, you can see the downtown Fort Worth skyline. The community is located located 5 minutes from downtown Fort Worth, a quick 15 minutes from the DFW Airport and 30 scenic miles from Dallas, "Big D."  What a wonderful place to be! The land on the Cheney Ranch (as it was sometimes called) was farmed, ranched and harvested for the family's use and for the marketing of cotton, packaged shelled pecans, cords of wood, homemade butter, peas, corn, tomatoes, watermelons, peaches, pears, plums, spinach and other greens.  The crops were sold at area farmer's markets in Fort Worth and Birdville.  Even today some of the land is still used for growing crops.  In addition to farming, cattle was raised and later sold at Hodge Station, which was an extension of the Fort Worth Stockyards.  Ranch hands were hired to assist with the ranching and farming duties.  Major Cheney provided housing for the hired hands.  During the early 1900's Major Cheney and his wife, Malinda, leased land to Fort Worth Sand & Gravel, now known as Texas Industries, Inc., (TXI, Inc.) for the purpose of mining sand and gravel. In 1891, Major Cheney donated 1/2acre of his for a school for blacks and the teachers were certified by the Birdville Independent School District. In an effort to preserve the legacy and heritage of Major and Malinda Cheney, the Garden of Eden Neighborhood Association was organized and registered with the city of Fort Worth, in May 2004.  Due to the diligent efforts of the members of the neighborhood association, many accomplishments have been made.   2004 - Neighborhood of the Year Award by City of Fort Worth 2006 - National Neighborhood of the Year Award by NUSA 2009 - Area school name changed to  Major Cheney Elementary School at South Birdville 2021 - On May 1st - Brenda Sanders-Wise was elected as the first African American to serve as Birdville Independent School District Trustee, Place 3 transforming the legacy of Major and Malinda Cheney. August 2021 - Major Cheney Elementary at South Birdville and Richland Hills Elementary will be combined to reflect the name Cheney Hills Elementary.