Al Hayne & the Texas Spring Palace Tragedy

My first year in Texas one afternoon I was exploring downtown Fort Worth. On the south side of downtown, at that time, an elevated section of Interstate 30 was above Lancaster Avenue, just south of the Fort Worth Convention Center and the Water Gardens.

I drove under the elevated freeway and saw what appeared to be some sort of statue. I was driving my van. I parked and got out to check out the statue. Suddenly I saw dozens of men running towards me. I did not know, at that time, that in Texas you can hire day laborers, likely illegals, who are desperate for work.

After the men figured out I wasn't hiring I proceeded to check out the statue. It appeared to be suffering from years of neglect, hidden away on the wrong side of the freeway. It quickly became obvious the statue was a memorial.

I was very pleased on Thanksgiving to discover that this memorial is now in a setting worthy of a memorial.

It's a memorial to a British man named Alfred S. Hayne. He was born in London, August 1, 1849 and died in Fort Worth on May 31, 1890. One of the messages on the memorial says, "In Honor of the Hero of the Spring Palace Fire Al Hayne who, unselfish as brave died that others might live." That message is one clunky sentence.

Spring Palace? Yes, I was curious too when I read that the first time. The Texas Spring Palace opened on May 29, 1889. It was sort of an agricultural fair. It was a huge success, attracting attention all over Texas, America and the World. Only the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. surpassed the Spring Palace's massive center dome.

The Spring Palace's second season began May 10, 1890. On May 30 several thousand people, including Al Hayne, were attending a dance in the palace. A flash fire swept through the building. Al Hayne helped dozens of women and children escape the burning building. Al Hayne did not make it out of the fire and became the only person who died in the Spring Palace fire.

The memorial to Al Hayne is near where the Spring Palace was located.

When we saw the memorial yesterday someone had placed flowers on it. I made the comment that there are likely quite a few descendants of those Al Hayne saved and one of them must have put those flowers there. The party to whom I said this got all weepy.

The memorial has some strange gargoyle like things on it. I've no idea what they are supposed to be.

Go to my Eyes on Texas website for a lot more about the Texas Spring Palace.