Fort Worth thrift store reclaims White Settlement Road
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Dancing Iglesias loves snagging finds at estate sales. Photo: Gregory Castillo/Axios
Dancing Iglesias chose to open her new Fort Worth thrift store on White Settlement Road to reclaim the ugly history of the city's relocation of Indigenous people.
Why it matters: Iglesias, a member of the MHA Nation, believes embracing the street's name ensures people learn about its dark past.
- "Erasing history or trying to cover up history doesn't really help," Iglesias tells Axios. "No matter how brutal or ugly that it was, I think people should look for it rather than try to erase it and cover it up."
Driving the news: Iglesias, 31, her husband and her sister, Lily Mekeel, opened Flipstone Vintage & Thrift in April at 2700 White Settlement Rd.
- The store has built a loyal online following by posting funny and relatable reels.
The big picture: Tarrant County elected officials have long debated whether to rename the town of White Settlement and the Fort Worth road, amid concerns it could discourage new businesses.
- In 2021, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said she supported the possibility of changing White Settlement Road's name. The plan was scrapped by the City Council.
Flashback: There were at least seven Indigenous villages in the Fort Worth area before white settlers moved into the region and staked their claim.
- Those settlers named their new home White Settlement to differentiate from tribal lands, including Comanche and Cherokee spaces.
The other side: Though Iglesias seeks to reclaim the road as an Indigenous space and doesn't want the name changed, other groups, including the Intertribal Community Council of Texas, have pushed for a new name.
- "It's kind of a reminder that this white settlement survived … and then the history of my people is that they were relocated. They were driven out," Comanche Nation citizen Marjeanna Burge said last year, per the Fort Worth Report.
The intrigue: Flipstone started as a furniture restoration business, but Iglesias noticed that thrift stores in the region were overpricing vintage goods.
- She wanted to open a store featuring high-quality, curated items at affordable prices.
If you go: Flipstone is open 10am to 7pm Thursday-Saturday and Monday. It's open noon-7pm on Sunday.
- Clothing is restocked Thursdays and priced at a flat rate, discounted more and more until Monday.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Dancing Iglesias is a member of the MHA Nation, not the Lakota Nation.