The library will be housed in a new construction on a vacant space which covers a large portion of the 2601-2699 block of Stadium Drive, approximately 0.2 miles north of the Winthrop Rockefeller building. The Winthrop Rockefeller building is located at 2800 Stadium Drive, and currently houses the entirety of the Ranch Management program, including all administrative and faculty offices, staff and student lounges, as well as auditorium-style classrooms. The Ranch Management program has received a generous grant to allow for the construction of a new building which will house expanded specialized academic collections and research facilities. This new structure will be named the Chisholm Library, in recognition of the historical importance of the Chisholm Trail to the regional cattle industry and local metropolitan growth. The acquisition of this property will extend the current northern boundary of the TCU campus.
Environmental Scan Fort Worth is located in the rolling hills of the Great Plains, and is part of the Cross Timbers ecological zone. This region marks the boundary between the more heavily forested lands to the east and the nearly treeless Great Plains. The city is strategically located on the Chisholm Trail, a historical cattle trail that ranchers used to drive Longhorn herds from Texas to the north.
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It was first settled as an army camp during the Mexican-American War. During the Civil War and Reconstruction the settlement declined expeditiously until it was nearly deserted. The town revived quickly due to its position as a final resting stop on the Chisholm Trail before a long stretch with no settlements. Cattle ranchers spent their money to stock up on necessary supplies before driving their herds northward towards the railheads in Kansas, or westward into unsettled territories (Hall 2014, p. 12). The cattle trade was the first industry in what would become a thriving commercial