Castle Heights has an unusually strong identity as a neighborhood. The construction of the earliest homes, circa 1888, lied outside Waco city limits, and when developers plotted the neighborhood in 1923, they expected it to serve as an elite residential area marketed to the professional and upper class. Castle Heights was an example of the early twentieth-century City Beautiful Movement, an urban planning philosophy that sought to link social issues to architectural design and encourage civic…

Waco’s Latino History far predates the city itself. The land of Central Texas once belonged to the Spanish empire, and then Mexico, until Texas fought for its independence in 1836. After almost another decade of struggle, Texas joined the United States and started down the path to becoming to Latino-Anglo melting pot it is today. Before long, a Spanish immigrant by the name of Jacob de Cordova came to town and officially founded the city of Waco. Ever since, for over a century, the Latino…

It may be said that all history is women’s history, and the history of Waco is no exception. Indigenous women populated this area along the Brazos before European settlers arrived. At its founding, women like Mrs. Sophia St. John contributed land that would become part of Waco. Additionally, Rebecca de Cordova, wife of early settler Jacob de Cordova, suggested the name Lamartine for the village. Since then, women with connections to Waco have served as politicians, educators, and…

Providing a constant water supply, means of transportation, and fertile farming ground, but also serving as a site of frequent flooding, the Brazos River shaped the story of the communities which grew upon its banks. Throughout history, it has proven a constant thread in the life of Waco. Though it benefited local farmers such as the Waco Indians and subsequent white cotton planters, the river hindered merchants in the late nineteenth century who possessed no means of crossing the often volatile…

The term ‘Bible-Belt’ is sometimes used to describe the religious landscape of Central Texas. However, to characterize Waco as a community full of carbon-copy churches is to do a disservice to the heterogeneous character of the houses of worship present in the city. While Waco’s spiritual past is largely Judeo-Christian, remarkable variation exists within the two faith traditions. For more than one hundred years, multiple Protestant denominations have coexisted with Catholic congregations and…