Stockyards Preservationist/ business owner – 2011
Steve is a fourth generation Texan and a visionary in bringing tourism to the Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District and international visitors to Texas.
As a Fort Worth Businessman, a Realtor and Developer, civic leader, patron of the arts, and former city councilman, he is recognizably known as the “Mayor of the Stockyards.” Beginning in 1973, Steve led the fight to revive and refurbish the area of north Fort Worth known as the Stockyards. It was always a difficult, and frequently a lonely, struggle. Though significant touchstones to our history and Western Heritage, the Stockyards where in a state of extreme disrepair. Many would stand in the middle of the Exchange Avenue and see only despair and decay, and say, bulldoze, now. Not Steve, for what he saw was a vision, a dream & a thriving monument not only to history but to commerce and entertainment as well. So Steve Murrin invested his money, his sweat and his vision. Anyone within earshot of Steve the last 40 years quickly learned the Stockyards’ story and why it was important to Fort Worth Texas. The restoration of the historic Cowtown Coliseum is but one example of his leadership and hard work. In 1976, Steve was able to reverse a city council action that would have prevented the coliseum from hosting a rodeo for 30 years, until 2006. This rodeo is one of the leading attractions in the Stockyards today. Steve was born in Fort Worth, where he lives at West Fork Ranch, still a working ranch that has been in his family since the 1930's.