How Fort Worth’s grand Spring Palace went up in flames

How Fort Worth's grand Spring Palace went up in flames

Published on January 20, 2026

In 1889, the Texas Spring Palace was built near the present-day Texas & Pacific Terminal on Lancaster Avenue. The building showcased Texas agricultural products, so locals decided to decorate the exterior of the domed, wood-framed structure with dried flowers, seeds and grasses.

What could possibly go wrong?

On May 30, 1890, a grand, formal ball attended by 7,000 Fort Worth movers and shakers was held at the palace. A fire erupted, stoked by the dried products attached to the walls. The building was consumed, and one person died.

Exhibit looked like a fantasy land

The Texas Spring Palace, a regional agricultural fair in Fort Worth, opened on May 29, 1889. The fair was inspired by Robert A. Cameron, agent for the Fort Worth and Denver Railway, and designed to attract settlers and investors to Texas. Cameron devised a plan to advertise Texas by displaying all the natural products of the state under one roof in a building intended to rival the Sioux City Corn Palace and Canadian ice palaces in novelty and style.

Fort Worth's civic leaders and newspapers quickly latched onto the plan, and railroads became cosponsors of the project. Donations from local businesses and residents furnished construction funds.

The completed Spring Palace, built in a record 31 days by the Fort Worth Loan & Construction Co., served as an educational, cultural and entertainment center for Texas residents and guests throughout June.

Its exterior walls were painted a dark bronze green; its roof sported turnip-shaped cupolas and a massive center dome surpassed in size only by that of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Wheat, cotton and other products of Texas covered the entire structure, making the Spring Palace look like something out of a fantasy world.

Inside the exhibit hall, visitors could find neatly classified samples of grains, grasses, fruits, vegetables and minerals produced in the state. Visitors could also tour floral, historic, scientific and art exhibits or view mosaics depicting Texas scenes - all made from natural products by the women of the state.

Concerts by the Elgin Watch Factory Band and the Mexican National Band, vocal performances, political and religious speakers, dances and sporting events competed with the exhibits for attention.

A hero emerges

A second season, scheduled for May 10-31, 1890, proved especially popular but ended catastrophically. In spite of efforts to make the palace fireproof, a flash fire swept through the building on the night of May 30, leveling the structure in a matter of minutes.

Although several thousand people were attending the dance in the palace that night, only one life, that of Englishman Al Hayne, was lost. Hayne was credited with saving numerous women and children by lowering them through a second story window to awaiting arms. Hayne died the following day as a result of his efforts to save those who had not yet escaped the burning building.

Monument to a hero

A monument to Hayne stands today in a small triangular park off Main Street just east of the palace's old Lancaster Street location.

Under the sponsorship of the Women's Humane Association, the sandstone monument was erected in 1893 and contained a bust of Hayne. In 1934, the monument and its surroundings were altered. The base of the monument was dressed up and moved closer to the center of the triangle. A reflecting basin was built around the monument, and a second reflecting pool was built nearby while the island itself was landscaped. Through a federal art program, sculptor Evaline Sellors of Fort Worth created a bronze bust to replace the original sandstone bust of Hayne.

In 2009, the intersection of South Main Street and East Lancaster Avenue was realigned farther to the east so that the Hayne monument no longer sits on an island. The Fort Worth Public Art Program has repaired and conserved the historic monument.

Stock Show grew out of disaster

Despite the tragedies of the fire, the Spring Palace was successful in bringing additional businesses and factories to town, and new buildings appeared as eastern financiers invested in Fort Worth's future.

City fathers tried to revive the exhibit for an additional 10 years. A new Spring Palace committee was set up in 1900 to draw up plans that included an auditorium, speedway, amphitheater and theater garden. The principal motivation was to compete with the annual Texas State Fair that rival Dallas had acquired. Eventually, the annual Fort Worth Fat Stock Show grew out of this sentiment, and its success, plus the inability of civic leaders to raise enough money to get the Spring Palace started again, quashed the idea.

Photo at top: A catastrophic fire destroyed the Texas Spring Palace while a formal dance was taking place. One man died as a result.

Photo: The Al Hayne memorial sits south of the Fort Worth Water Gardens near the intersection of Main Street and Lancaster Avenue.

Photo: Dried agricultural products from across the state festooned all sides of the Spring Palace structure, likely leading to the fire's ability to consume the attraction in minutes.

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