When real estate developer John C Ryan built the first Ryan Place home in 1911, he envisioned a white lace and parasol neighborhood three miles south of the city. He named the broad boulevard after his wife, Elizabeth, and he erected massive Carthage stone and marble gates to signify that this was a refined neighborhood with stable values - an early version of a quality suburb.
By 1926 Ryan Place stretched the length of Elizabeth Boulevard, a block north to Jessamine, and two blocks south to Cantey. Residents of the neighborhood included the mayor, the president of the school board, the dean of the Fort Worth Medical College, and the founder of Planet Oil.
The neighborhood thrived for three decades. Shortly after World War II, residents moved away, leaving stately mansions empty, inviting decay. John Ryan's elegant gates were torn down in the name of "progress". In 1969, 150 residents met to form the Ryan Place Improvement Association. The city had threatened to turn Fifth and Sixth Avenues into one-way thoroughfares. They won their battle against the city. It was not the last battle the group would encounter.
In 1979, Elizabeth Boulevard was entered into the National Register of Historic Places. This designation made us all aware of the unique place our neighborhood holds in the heart of the near southside.
John Ryan's neighborhood has returned to what he planned - a neighborhood of people dedicated to beauty, preservation, and a sense of place.
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