The River Oaks Area Historical Society started the new century with an interesting program given by a 55-year resident of River Oaks, Raymond R. Stapp.  Raymond helped organize the first official volunteer fire department in 1946 and they had six committed men who made up the fire department.
Read the rest of Mr Stapp's story below.

January 3, 1999
Story by Jo Ann Dennis, River Oaks News

The first meeting of the new year was held Monday, Jan. 3, at John Knox Presbyterian Church and was well attended. Mr. Stapp, well known to most residents of the area, shared a lot of information about our city and brought back many memories to those present.
He told of living in the Riverside area after he got married and a favorite Sunday afternoon pastime was driving out to the lake (Lake Worth). They drove through the River Oaks area to the lake back before Carswell Air Force Base was built. He was working for what we all called the "the Bomber Plant" in those days, so he and his wife decided to build a home in River Oaks Village in 1943. This was before the city was incorporated in 1949, but there was a huge amount of construction going on in the area and homes were selling very fast because of the many jobs available at the "plant."
They bought a home at the corner of what is now Ohio Garden Road and River Oaks Boulevard and moved in on July 4, 1943. He lived there for 55 years, moving to Arlington with his wife, Bea, to live with a son when he began to have some health problems. He speaks with a special nostalgia of his years in River Oaks and being a part of the life of the community for so long.

Raymond said that he loved history in school and that his love of history has continued throughout his life. When his family moved here, Raymond met the late John Hubbard, who was heading up a small group of men who helped put out fires in the community. The men had a flat bed truck with a water tank on it and several hundred feet of 2 ½ inch hose. They kept the truck behind a business at Long and River Oaks Boulevard and whoever could come to answer a fire call, came on a volunteer basis. Raymond helped organize the first official volunteer fire department in 1946 and they had six committed men who made up the fire department. There were others who helped on occasion, but the six were dedicated to the task and fought many fires together. They acquired an International truck with a 500-gallon water tank on it and "they thought they had the best equipment that could be found anywhere." It was the only volunteer fire department around and helped out neighboring communities and even Fort Worth. This was in the days when the Fort Worth Fire Department was not allowed to go outside it's city limits to fight a fire. Raymond said that later, Tarrant County passed the "Mutual Aid" act, which allowed all fire departments to cross city limit borders to help in a fire emergency. Our volunteer fire department grew as the city grew. He held every office and position in the Fire Department except sergeant -at-arms and is now the only one of the charter group still living.
Raymond went on to remind the group of businesses which were started in the boom days of the city. We all remember the Fair Oaks Shopping Center, which had not only the Fair as it's anchor, but had a Wyatt's Cafeteria, a Skillern's Drug Store, a Mott's Five and Dime, a Levine's Department Store, Dixon's Jewelers and several other businesses. He said that the Fair had a contract with the Volunteer Fire Department to wash down the parking lot of the shopping center each night. Of course, nearby was the Bonanza Steak House (now River Oaks Steak House), the new Cowtown Bowling Alley and just in the edge of Fort Worth was the Cowtown Drive-In movie, which is now an auto auction business.

Coming back down the Boulevard, which was just a two-lane road then, was River Oaks State Bank, Dear's Barbecue and a Humble Gasoline Station. On the north side of the street was a Cushman motorcycle store. Next door to it was Nettles's Gas Station. Across from the old city hall was the River Oaks Theater, the big, now vacant, Western Auto Store was where the old post office was. I was sitting by Merle Bradley and she told me there was a taxi stand right next door to the theater and you could take a taxi home for 35 cents. The Boulevard also offered a Texaco Station, American National Insurance Company, Sally Hartman's Real Estate Office, Dr Jewel's and Dr. Green's offices, River Oaks Auto Rebuilders and a Rexall Drug Store, as well as a Safeway Grocery Store that now houses Burrus Grocery Store. Top 40 video was once a Mannings Sporting Goods Store, then a Simm's Shoe Store, later to become River Oaks Movie Rental. Buddies Grocery Store was where the Army and Navy Store is now. There was also a Mitchell's Department Store where the Thrift Junction is now and beside it was a large area of trampolines and a miniature golf course. In that same complex was also a Sears Catalogue Store. Across from the Castleberry Church of Christ was a long time teen-age hangout called "The Griddle", and further west on the Boulevard was Caudle's Drive In, who became famous for their "Frosted Mug Rootbeer" with those wonderful hamburgers that only Mr. Caudle could prepare. At the far end of the Boulevard, where the 7-11 sits at the corner of the Boulevard and Sam Calloway Road, the Westerner Drive-In operated for many years. Raymond's historical account of the city's early days made a great program. He ended it with a wonderful compliment to our present fire department, which he said he would put up against any fire department in operation today. Mary Earwood, president of the Historical Society, thanked him and presented him with a gift for being our speaker that evening.

Raymond Stapp is certainly missed in the city today. I still have his "business card," which he gave me right after he and Bea moved to Arlington last year. It says, "No Business, No Routine, No Credit, No Girlfriends, No Phone, No Title, No Worries, No Office, No Money and No Ulcer."
Best wishes to this fine gentleman who shared some great history with us.