Top O Hill Terrace

A fascinating historical saga begins with the modest goal of a little lady to open a tearoom and dining room on a lovely hilltop in eastern Tarrant County. Beulah Adams Marshall's cozy facility soon became popular because of its convenient location and well-known chicken-fried steaks.

The plot thickened when Fred and Mary Browning purchased the property, moved the house and had an extensive basement and escape tunnel dug into the hill. They then replaced the house, which still appeared to be a dining establishment. The real action, however, took place in the basement, where a full casino was installed.

Like moths to a flame, the rich and powerful, celebrities and criminals came to Browning's new hot spot. Everything was available - high stakes card games and roulette, booze and women.

It did not take long before law enforcement agencies began to home in on the action. As officers approached the ornate front gate, guards in the watch tower alerted the casino by way of an alarm system. A controlled chaos ensued; patrons were hustled out the escape tunnels; hidden switches were flipped and roulette tables swiveled to become ordinary tables. Outside, guests would be discovered politely lifting their pinkies sharing tea in the beautiful tea garden which had been pre-set just in case of such a raid. Others quietly slipped away.

Another eagle eye was watching the developments at Top O' Hill. Dr. J. Frank Norris, the Pastor of First Baptist Church had been doing everything in his power to defeat the unholy trinity of gambling. Hell's Half-Acre, the center of many of the worst problems in Fort Worth, was within a stone's throw of First Baptist Church. Dr. Norris had targeted this area, along with notorious dives along Jacksboro Highway to the north as blights on the community.

As Top O' Hill flourished, the conservative Baptist pastor was deeply bothered by the contempt to the law shown there; he added it to his list. In his church and in the Fundamental Baptist Bible Institute, later known as Bible Baptist Seminary and which is today Arlington Baptist College, Dr. Norris preached against the evils he was told about. At a tent meeting held in Arlington in the early 1930s, Dr. Norris states that the casino's days were numbered and vowed one day to own the place!

In 1947, Texas Rangers Captain M.T. Lone Wolf Gonzaullas led the raid on Top O' Hill, this time catching the gambling operation in full swing. Top O' Hill never recovered.

In late 1956, under the leadership of Dr. Earl K. Oldham, the Bible Baptist Seminary bought the hilltop property and relocated there, fulfilling Dr. Norris's promise, although neither he nor Fred Browning lived to see it happen.