Leonard's Department Store Museum

Tucked away on Carroll Street, near the Montgomery Ward Plaza (another Fort Worth building with a history) is the Leonard's Department Store Museum. The store was long gone when I arrived in Fort Worth in the early 1990s, but the subway was still running, which once led from the parking lot, through a tunnel and emerged below the Leonard's store. In the 1990s it was known as The Tandy Center with shops surrounding an ice rink. Downtown workers continued to use the free parking and the subway trains until it was closed around 2002. Entry to the museum is through the M&O Station Grill. I found the artifacts reminiscent of department stores I visited as a child and it was fun to browse.
The Leonards brothers were very influential around Fort Worth (the Jr. High School is named after them) and during the depression when banks were closed, Leonard's began printing its own store currency and minting coins. They cashed paychecks with a combination of store currency and cash so that people could purchase things they needed. At the time they were baking over 7,000 loaves of bread a day.
Before the Civil Rights Act the Leonards Brothers chose to desegregate and removed any signs separating races. One young black man was unaware that the cafeteria served people of all races and sent a letter to the Fort Worth Star Telegram stating that he intended to sit in the cafeteria until he was served. When he arrived he was surprised that he was welcomed and a cup of coffee sat waiting for him.