Baylor University was the first coeducational university in the South, and only the second in the country. Even so, the education women received at Baylor for many years was fundamentally different than the men’s. Women stayed within the bounds of the more “feminine” degrees such as education or music, and access to on-campus organizations was severely limited. Female students were held to high standards and kept under close supervision by the Dean of Women. They had to adhere to a strict dress code (superintendents could remove undesirable clothing from student’s closets), attend Sunday school and church services every Sunday, sign out any time they left campus, observe a strict curfew, and keep good grades in order to be allowed to date, ride in a car, or leave campus.

As women’s rights activists made headway in the early twentieth century, coed institutions received more and more female applicants. Baylor was no exception. In the 1920s, Baylor received so many applications from women that they had to turn them away due to a lack of space. At the time, Georgia Burleson Hall and a few small annexes were the only women’s residential spaces on campus, and women who were not from Waco were not allowed to live off campus due to university administration’s desire to keep them protected and out of trouble. The male students, by comparison, were not subject to the same levels of supervision as the women and were trusted to live off campus. The ones that did live on campus were housed in then-brand-new Brooks Hall.

Despite being advertised as better than the accommodations at other universities, Burleson Hall was cramped, leaky, outdated, and only housed around 200 women, and the annexes could hold around 200 altogether. In the mid-1920s, the number of women enrolled at Baylor was around one thousand. In light of this space issue, President Samuel Palmer Brooks began planning the addition of a new women’s dormitory. The Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, having observed the piety and Christian attitudes of Baylor students, took an interest and pledged to help the university raise funds for this new building. They advertised in Waco newspapers to secure donations from the community, and sororities on campus aided them with fundraisers.

In 1928, a groundbreaking ceremony took place at the site of the new dormitory on the corner of Seventh and Speight. Baylor alumna, renowned author, and Columbia University professor Dorothy Scarborough addressed the spectators at this event. Scarborough emphasized the importance of remembering the exceptional women in Baylor’s history and made a commitment to be present at similar events in the future. Baylor administrators overseeing the project hoped that the groundbreaking might serve as a reminder to the community that the project was still underway, and hopefully inspire them to resume their donations, which had decreased significantly.

Woman’s Memorial Dormitory, named in honor of the Woman’s Missionary Union, was finished in 1930 and cost approximately $350,000. Securing funding for this project was no small feat, as at this time the country was suffering in the early days of the Great Depression. At this time, the building could house 245 women, and boasted a dining hall, a chapel, a study hall, and two banquet rooms. On October 15, 1930, the university suspended classes for two hours so that faculty, staff, and students could attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new dormitory. President Brooks, speaking at this ceremony, thanked the Woman’s Missionary Union for making the idea for the new dormitory into a reality, and further thanked all the women of Texas for their contributions to the project. Mrs. F. S. Davis, president of the Woman’s Missionary Union, also addressed the attendees, speaking of her hopes that the women of the dormitory would grow in their faith and be strong, Christian leaders in their community. “The fervent prayer,” she said, “that wells up from the heart of the Women’s Missionary Union today is that ‘our daughters may be as polished cornerstones after the similitude of a palace.’ For truly you, our daughters, are our glory and our crown.”

In 2005, Memorial and neighboring hall Alexander became home to the university’s Honors College Living and Learning Community, or HC-LLC (often called the Hick-Lick), with Memorial housing the women and Alexander housing the men. Four years later the university upgraded the community to the status of residential college. The Honors Residential College is known across campus for its tight-knit community, goofy traditions, and, in the words of one former Baylor professor,its “common love of uncommon things.” In 2023, the university renovated both Memorial and Alexander, updating facilities, rooms, and common spaces, as well as adding the new Carona Family Commons, a two-floor shared common area connecting the two buildings.

Woman’s Memorial Dormitory, now simply called Memorial Hall, has been a welcoming home away from home to Baylor women for almost 100 years. Memorial was instrumental in improving women’s access to education at Baylor when it was built, and the impact it and its founders had on the university is still visible.

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Without the construction of Waco Hall, Baylor University might reside in Dallas, Texas. In the early 1900s, some Baylor representatives pushed for the university to relocate and had already placed parts of the institution in Dallas, including the newly established medical school. Resisting such a transition, Wacoans banded together to keep the university in the city. Under the auspices of the Waco-Baylor Campaign, community and university leaders introduced a plan titled “Greater Baylor University” in May 1928. Wacoans pledged to raise $350,000 in support of the university, with the agreement that no additional gifts would be required over the next three years. Texas Baptists committed to matching Waco’s donations. Local leaders believed these efforts to be favorable for both Waco and Baylor. Committing to an investment in the expansion of the university meant potential growth and flourishing in Waco.

Early on, city and university leaders decided that funds would support the construction of a new building on Baylor’s campus. Seeking to visually represent the connections between Waco and Baylor, leaders of the Waco-Baylor Campaign decided to name the new building Waco Hall. Embodying the relationship between the local community and the university, Waco Hall would serve as a performance and gathering space for Wacoans and Baylor students, faculty, and staff. Eager citizens quickly raised the recommended $350,000, and Wacoans, showing broad support for Waco Hall, went above the original amount, donating a total of $416,000 by June 1928.

Once the campaign met fundraising goals, trustees of Baylor University contemplated the building’s potential location. They decided on Seventh Street and Speight Avenue and completed plans for construction by March 13, 1929. Architects Lang and Mitchell of Dallas finalized structural decisions soon after, and on June 25, 1929, Baylor officials poured Atlas Portland Cement into the foundation. Soon after, O. K. Johnson Construction of Waco began to lay the foundation for the 200-by-200-foot building and finished the project in early 1930. On May twenty-seventh of that year, Baylor University held a dedication ceremony for the newly completed Waco Hall.

From the start of the project, city and Baylor leaders envisioned a structure that would serve as an auditorium for both the community and university. Though university leaders initially expected to only host graduation ceremonies in Waco Hall, the building expanded as a venue for Waco Symphony Orchestra concerts and as the location for Baylor’s School of Music and Department of Art.

At the time of its opening, Waco Hall’s 41,985 square feet contained nine classrooms, six offices, and an auditorium with a capacity of 2,400. The building also featured the Brooks Memorial Organ and a recital hall. Over time, Waco Hall expanded and experienced multiple renovation efforts. In 1957, university leaders added a west annex named Roxy Grove Hall in honor of the previous dean of the School of Music. The facility expanded and improved once more in 1965, when leaders constructed an east annex and installed new auditorium seats. In 1978, Baylor funded another renovation project, adding entry and exit ramps, first-floor restrooms, a custom lighting panel, and additional parking. The community and university funded the placement of acoustic panels in 1997, which debuted on October sixteenth at a Waco Symphony Orchestra concert.

Home to the Waco Symphony Orchestra since 1965, scores of other well-known artists and speakers have performed in front of local audiences at Waco Hall. Hollywood icons Katharine Hepburn, Dorothy Lamour, and Claude Rains graced the stage. Opera stars Marian Anderson and Waco’s own Jules Bledsoe dazzled audiences in 1939, and two years later, Bob Hope presented his comedic variety act to Waco audiences. In 1951, Billy Graham preached at Waco Hall, becoming an honorary Noze Brother during his campus visit. Prominent political figures also spoke in Waco Hall, including Presidents Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, and Lyndon B. Johnson, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, activist Ralph Nader, and Mark Felt, the notorious “Deep Throat” in the Watergate scandal. Renowned musical acts Bachman-Turner Overdrive, John Denver, Amy Grant, and Texas native Waylon Jennings performed there, too.

Waco Hall continues to host community-wide and university events. As at its beginning, the hall hosts University Chapel for students across Baylor’s campus. The auditorium also remains the location for important all-university events, such as Freshman Mass Meeting, Founders Day, All University Sing, Pigskin Revue, and other community and university pageants and ceremonies.

The stage, orchestra pit, and now 2,200-person auditorium in Waco Hall continue to provide a performance and gathering space for the community and university. More than just a building, Waco Hall exemplifies the relationship between Baylor University and the City of Waco—one that spans back before 1930 and continues into the present.

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During the 1950s and 1960s, Rev. Marvin C. Griffin strove to bring the Christian gospel to bear upon the civil rights struggle in Waco. As minister of New Hope Baptist Church from 1951 to 1969, Reverend Griffin preached a message of spiritual vitality and social action, advocating for racial equality during a period of heightened tensions among Waco’s white, black, and Hispanic communities. Griffin’s unswerving emphasis on racial justice and reconciliation established him as a respected leader throughout Central Texas.

The future minister was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1923 and, after several years in Oklahoma, spent his later childhood and adolescence in Dallas, Texas. Like many African American families in their community, the Griffin family suffered the effects of race-based inequality. The scarcity of Depression-era jobs for black men meant that Griffin’s mother supported the family on wages from her job as housekeeper in a white home. The young Griffin, however, felt called to become a preacher and exhibited academic promise at an early age.

After high school, Griffin entered Bishop College—at that time the only Texas institution offering a degree in religion to African American students. There he met Lois King, whom he married in 1944 and with whom he would serve churches and communities throughout Texas for over six decades. After graduating from Bishop in 1943, Griffin earned a bachelor of divinity in theology from the famed Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin’s emphasis on the social implications of the Christian message shaped Griffin’s approach to civil rights in the years to come. Griffin graduated from Oberlin in 1947 and soon took a position as director of city missions for the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board in Dallas, Texas. There, the young graduate worked with people in need from white and black neighborhoods alike. In this way, Griffin’s diverse childhood, educational, and professional experiences allowed him to cultivate relationships across racial and economic lines.

In 1951, Waco’s New Hope Baptist Church invited Griffin to fill in as interim pastor when its own minister, Dr. Joseph Newton Jenkins, fell ill. This temporary position became permanent when Jenkins passed away, and the twenty-seven-year-old seminary graduate found himself the pastor of one of Waco’s oldest and most prominent African American churches. The young minister took to the position quickly, however, pioneering a radio ministry and citywide transportation system to the church on Sunday. All the while, Griffin devoted himself to theological study; in 1955 he became the first African American to receive a master of religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Griffin also brought a renewed emphasis on the social resonances of the Christian gospel, preaching the importance of advocating for justice in the wake of pervasive racial discrimination. In Waco, the new pastor entered an environment in which white hostility was prevalent and in which local blacks were hesitant to confront racial divides for fear that their jobs, social standing, and physical safety might be jeopardized.

Their fears were not unfounded. When initial efforts to integrate Waco schools following the Brown v. Board of Education decision were stymied by public backlash, it appeared that the desegregation project had reached a standstill. White leaders took no initiative toward implementing the federal ruling, and area blacks balked at taking any serious form of action. For the remainder of the decade, little progress was made in the dismantling of legalized segregation.

Thanks to leaders such as Marvin Griffin, the tide began to turn during the 1960s, bringing about an integration that proved far more peaceful—albeit far more gradual—than many cities in the South. As the nationwide struggle for civil rights grew more visible and more tumultuous, Waco minorities became increasingly vocal in their calls for desegregation and equal access to employment. Leading white Chamber of Commerce members—dubbed “The Committee of Fifty”—were anxious to avoid the protests, sit-ins, and violence plaguing much of the South. When the committee expressed the desire to cooperate with Waco’s black community leaders in desegregating the city at long last, Marvin Griffin set to work forming a council comprised of seven prominent African American men and women. With Griffin as its chairman, the council sought input from all corners of Waco’s black population to formulate a list of the most pressing racial issues to be remedied. These included public accommodations, the use of recreational facilities, access to jobs, and representation on boards and commissions.

The Committee of Fifty proved open to cooperation. It and Griffin’s council were careful, however, to keep their deliberations secret, lest they arouse anger from the white community. Thus, in 1961, they privately crafted a plan for the gradual and quiet desegregation of Waco businesses, cooperating with journalists to ensure that the press would refrain from reporting on the committee’s existence and the instances of desegregation that followed. Facility by facility, the group worked with business owners and the designated African American citizens—often Griffin and the members of his council—who would patronize each establishment. By means of enforcement, several members of the committee threatened to fire employees who did not carry out the new policy of desegregation. By 1963, popular Waco eating establishments, hospitals, and department stores had desegregated in this manner. Additionally, Baylor president Abner McCall—a member of the Committee of Fifty—began to take steps in the desegregation of Baylor University, which was finally desegregated in 1964.

Public desegregation, however, was only the first step in a long and arduous road toward a more racially equitable society. Accordingly, Griffin remained unwavering in his advocacy for Waco’s black community even after this initial wave of desegregation. The pastor worked to secure job opportunities for Waco’s African American citizens, and he also continued to fight for the desegregation of the Waco Independent School District, which would ultimately desegregate by federal court order in the early 1970s. Griffin also continued to facilitate racial reconciliation in local churches as well, exchanging pulpits with white preachers such as Rhea Gray and holding interracial book clubs in homes to facilitate productive dialogue on issues of race. In the political sphere, Griffin worked to expand black voter registration and galvanized his congregation and others into a politically active community.

In 1969, Griffin accepted an offer to become pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Austin, Texas—a position in which he served until his retirement on July 31, 2011. Here the twin goals of Christian faithfulness and social action remained paramount in Griffin’s ministry. In 1998, the pastor spearheaded the creation of the East Austin Economic Development Corporation, which offered crucial services to underprivileged populations. The spiritual and social leader continued to advance in learning and education even in latter decades of his career; in 1990, Griffin received his doctor of ministry from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Throughout his long and storied life, Griffin never wavered in his insistence that the Christian message was inseparable from the issue of racial justice and community involvement, and he continued to encourage Christian faithfulness and social activism among his congregants at Ebenezer.

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Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center has been a big name in the Central Texas healthcare network for almost a century. Though the institution’s name has changed several times over the decades, the mission remains the same: to serve the sick people of Waco and surrounding areas in a welcoming, Christian environment.

The idea for a Baptist hospital in Waco began with Arthur James Barton, pastor of First Baptist Church of Waco, as early as 1909. But this would be no small undertaking, and it would cost a great deal of money for the local congregation. The idea circulated the community for a few years, and in 1912 the Waco Baptist Association (WBA) formed the Sanitarium Standing Committee, set to raise an estimated $50,000 for the construction of a sanitarium—the predecessor to the modern-day hospital with more restricted facilities. The only other hospital in the area was the Catholic-run Providence Hospital. Financial Secretary of the Committee Ben T. Goodwin set out on a widespread fundraising campaign. Despite initial success, such as the $10,000 pledged by the Young Men’s Business League, by September 1914 Goodwin paused all fundraising efforts because of the outbreak of World War I.

The next phase of the project was taken up by Joseph M. Dawson who assumed the pastorship of First Baptist in 1915. Dawson strongly believed that taking care of the sick was an instrumental part of the Christian faith, and he often preached such messages to his congregation in support of the sanitarium. He set out himself in 1916 to acquire land for the proposed sanitarium, buying two plots for $7,000. This important step instilled confidence in the WBA, and following the land acquisitions the WBA leaders chartered the sanitarium the same year. The charter included a nursing school and specified that the sanitarium would be open to all medical school graduates and doctors “of good repute.” Further, it articulated the institution’s purpose as “a responsibility to the community [that] would transcend political strife, regional strife, religious distinctions, and racial distinctions.”

Waco local Jesse Judge Dean donated more land to the project, and by 1917 the WBA had raised $60,000. While the whole project would cost around $275,000, the WBA went ahead and hired architect George C. Burnett and contractor James S. Harrison and Son. They broke ground at the original location on Herring Avenue on July 10, 1917. By October 1918 the exterior was complete, but more funds were needed to furnish the inside. Local women’s groups such as the WBA Women’s Auxiliary donated their time and completed the landscaping, and they also donated materials such as bed linens. The hospital and nursing building were both completed in 1920.

To everyone’s surprise, the first patient preceded the hospital’s opening on May 25, 1920. Dr. H. Frank Connally performed an emergency appendectomy on Mrs. Mable Battle Westbrook at 4:30 a.m. on May 25. The first registered surgical patient, a Mrs. Mamie Lou Lange Hatch, then received her operation at 8:00 a.m. The Central Texas Baptist Sanitarium was officially up and running.

The sanitarium saw massive expansions and improvements in the following decades of the twentieth century. By 1938 the name had changed to Hillcrest Memorial Hospital. The change was meant to honor the citizens of the surrounding Hillcrest area who had worked to hard to fund raise and make the hospital a reality. In the same year, the hospital also obtained its first iron lung to treat polio. Though the hospital almost closed during the Depression, a little over a decade later it was back on its feet ready to expand. In 1953 a new wing was opened and the bed capacity raised to 175. By 1963 the hospital underwent another name change. When it was brought under the Baptist General Convention of Texas the name was changed to Hillcrest Baptist Hospital. That same decade saw the closing of the nursing school, and the hospital began to hire nurses trained at the new McLennan Community College.

The two decades from 1978 to 1998 saw the greatest changes. In 1978 the Clara and Harlon Fentress Cancer Treatment Center was built, with forty-inch walls to contain the radiation. The 1980s brought the construction of an outpatient surgical center, the Magnolia Tree Inn for patients’ families, the primary care clinic and MRI center, and labor and delivery rooms. The name of the hospital was also changed one last time in 1982 to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, to reflect the hospital’s “comprehensive approach to health education and preventative medicine.” The 1990s continued to witness immense growth, with the opening of the Heart Center, the NICU, school clinics, and the hospital’s upgrade to a Level II trauma center.

The hospital did finally run into some trouble after the turn of the century. Tensions between the doctors serving at the hospital and the administration ran high, and many doctors considered leaving Hillcrest altogether. But a change in management came in 2007 with CEO Glenn Robinson, and doctor-hospital relationships improved. It was also Robinson who oversaw the biggest change in Hillcrest history—much more than a change in name, a change in location. In 2009, every patient was transferred to the new location on I-35 and Highway 6 in just one day. Hillcrest still operates today at this location in partnership with Baylor Scott & White Health network. Primarily vacant for over ten years, several attempts to find a new owner for the old Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center Complex proved unsuccessful. In 2020, a final plan to convert the old hospital into a state-run mental healthcare facility fell through under the financial stress of Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic. While Hillcrest Hospital continues to serve the region in its new location, the former home of Hillcrest will be demolished and the space opened up for revitalization and new development.

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A forerunner of Baylor University, Waco University served as one of the earliest and most influential institutions of higher learning following the founding of Waco Village in 1849.

When Waco incorporated in 1856, Baptists already held a significant presence in the small town. Seeking to establish a preparatory school for the provision of education for young Baptist men, First Baptist congregants banded together with the Trinity River Baptist Association in 1856 to create Trinity River Male High School, later called Trinity River Classical School. The small school held its first classes in 1857 in temporary quarters at First Baptist Church on Fourth Street. Hoping to expand the reach of the school, trustees purchased a 7 ½-acre tract of land south of the city plat between Fifth and Sixth Streets in 1859. With assistance from the local community, the school constructed two large brick buildings.

The year 1860 brought a series of new changes to the school, beginning with the formation of Waco Baptist Association, a voluntary group of nine Baptist churches organized to provide support to the local Baptist community. Taking control of the school from Trinity River Baptist Association, the Waco group renamed the institution Waco Classical School.

In 1861 a bitter dispute at Baylor University, still located in Independence, concerning teaching methodology and a coeducational dance brought former and future Baylor president Rufus Burleson and four new faculty members to Waco Classical School. Following the resignation of school head John C. West, trustees offered Burleson the presidency. Burleson adjusted the scope of the school and in September of that same year, it reopened as all-male Waco University.

Tuition at the Waco school ranged from ten to twenty dollars throughout the university’s years of operation, although the children of poor ministers and young men in training to become preachers often received their education for free. Budgetary concerns, a constant concern for the short-lived university, were underscored by large numbers of young men enrolling in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Enrollment increased and coursework expanded at the university in the years following the Civil War, aided by the addition of a female department in 1866. Although one of the first coeducational universities in the nation, classes remained segregated by gender.

The growing Waco school soon began to compete with Baylor University for students and the two universities, supported by separate Baptist associations, coexisted for several years. However, the growth of Waco, bolstered by the recent arrival of the railway, signaled the gradual decline of Baylor in Independence. When the general and state associations which supported the two universities consolidated to form The Baptist General Convention of Texas, it was decided to consolidate Waco University and Baylor University in Waco, utilizing Baylor’s name.

Waco University held its last classes in the spring of 1886, although Baylor retained many of the university’s policies, course offerings, and faculty for many years after the consolidation. As the Baylor campus expanded, the former Waco University structure was transitioned into a dormitory, and later phased out completely.

Today, Waco University’s contribution to educational life in the city is lived out through the operations of Baylor University.

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Calle Dos emerged in the early twentieth century as a haven for Mexican immigrants fleeing border violence and rapidly developed into a center of culture and community for Waco’s Hispanic population.

Prior to the establishment of Calle Dos, Mexican immigrants settled on the banks of the Brazos River in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in an area called Little Mexico, or Mexican Sandtown. The dawn of the Great War and arrival of a military base in Waco in 1917 led to the city shutting down the Reservation, a legal red-light district situated upon the banks of the Brazos River to the west of Sandtown. As prostitutes and madams left the city, houses sat vacant.

Around the same time as the closure of the Reservation, Mexican American laborers and immigrants fleeing violence at the border caused by the Mexican Revolution arrived in Waco. Although some Wacoans turned up their noses at the idea of moving into a formerly disreputable area, many immigrants saw the affordable houses as an opportunity to begin a new life.

Never an officially designated neighborhood, the boundaries of Calle Dos were often disputed. Some claimed the area simply to be an extension of Sandtown, while others claimed it as its own entity bounded by Fourth Street, Washington Avenue, modern-day Waco Drive, and the Brazos River. In either case, it is clear that the community along the Brazos grew to be a tight-knit center of Hispanic culture.

Many Calle Dos residents opened up businesses along Second Street, transforming the once avoided area into a busy thoroughfare. Various organizations established in the area to serve the immigrant community also contributed to the neighborhood’s sense of identity. A Baptist mission formed on Second Street in the late 1800s, which became the Mexican Baptist Mission in 1907. The Sociedad Mutualista Mexicana de Jornaleros formed in 1924 in order to assist Mexicans with their rights, jobs, funerals, and other needs, occupying the Baptist mission’s original building on Second Street. That same year, Franciscans arrived in Waco and established a Catholic church which soon became a center of community for Waco’s Hispanic population.

Former residents recall the poor but tight-knit neighborhood fondly. Most houses lacked indoor plumbing, and residents often tacked cardboard to windows and walls to keep the cold out during the winter. Yet many most vividly remember the vibrant community life centered in festivals and dances put on by area churches and fraternal organizations. Neighbors gathered at La Pila, a spring-fed fountain just off the banks of the river, and children often played and bathed in its waters. Hispanic community members who resided in other areas of Waco, such as on cotton farms in areas surrounding the city, also claimed ties to the area due to the wealth of cultural opportunities which Calle Dos provided Mexican Americans.

The beginning of Waco’s urban renewal program in 1958, established to alleviate inner-city blight, led to the demise of the culturally rich neighborhood. Local leaders declared portions of the city blighted and, after compensating owners, claimed the properties and demolished any structures not meeting the program’s requirements. The project cleared areas along the Brazos River from modern-day La Salle Avenue to several blocks past Waco Drive. The homes of Calle Dos were demolished and La Pila stopped up and buried, forcing residents to disperse to other areas throughout the city and state.

Today, only a few remnants of the former neighborhood stand, including a grove of ancient live oak trees, St. Francis on the Brazos Catholic Church, and the partially buried remains of La Pila. Recent efforts to excavate La Pila and establish a historical marker for the fountain which once centered an entire community reveal the importance of the former neighborhood. For half a century, Calle Dos provided cultural identity and community for Waco’s Mexican American population and the efforts of community leaders today ensure that this legacy will not be forgotten. 

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Though L. L. Sams and Sons became one of the nation’s largest and most popular church furniture suppliers in the twentieth century, it developed from humble beginnings. Rev. L. L. Sams, a traveling Baptist preacher, desired to build a church for his congregation in Whitney, Texas, in 1898. He became frustrated after meeting with local carpenters to discuss the costs of constructing pews for the new building. Unhappy with the options they presented, and suspecting the local carpenters were in cahoots to take advantage of him through their prices, he decided to look elsewhere for furniture.

Though the Michigan-based company E. H. Stafford did not have Texas representatives, they sent Sams a catalog of their furniture. After Sams ordered furniture for his new church and for several other pastors in the area, the firm signed him on as their first Texas sales representative. Sams visited other pastors two Sundays of each month and turned great profits for Stafford. In turn, he received a commission enabling him to send all four of his children to Baylor University. The family moved to Waco in 1918 to be closer to Baylor and set up an official sales office for the company on South Fifth Street.

Sams’ sons Ross and Rowe both joined the furniture business following their graduation from nearby Baylor. The company adopted the name L. L. Sams and Sons, and the brothers set to work expanding the enterprise established by their father. For instance, Ross designed a set of pew samples which could be disassembled and placed in a railroad trunk. He then traveled throughout the state pitching their products to his former Baylor classmates, now pastors.

L. L. Sams retired and sold the business to his two sons in 1927. The hard economic times of the Great Depression slowed business considerably. In 1938, the two brothers introduced a new aspect to the company in order to attract more customers: furniture delivery and installation. This addition, combined with the boom of church construction in the United States following the conclusion of World War II, greatly expanded the company’s customer base.

In order to meet the needs of the now booming business, Ross employed a Waco cabinetmaker in 1946 to construct some of the pulpits which the company sold. Recognizing the value of the company producing its own furniture, L. L. Sams and Sons bought out the cabinet business and purchased an abandoned textile mill, establishing Sams Manufacturing Company.

To avoid another downturn in sales after the boom in church building ended in the mid-1950s, L. L. Sams and Company expanded its services into church renovation. The company also began to design and install stained glass in 1960. In the next few decades, the business continued to adapt its products in order to meet customer needs, changing atmospheres, and new trends. By 1989, the company branched out to offer its services to commercial as well as religious institutions.

In 1994, Ross Sams Jr. merged L. L. Sams and Sons with Royal Seating Corporation, and in 1997 the business moved approximately 50 miles south to Cameron, Texas. The development company T. D. Watson Interests bought the factory that year and converted it into loft-style apartments intended to preserve the history of the factory through “adaptive reuse.”

L. L. Sams’s dedication to the provision of quality furniture and good customer service developed into a thriving family business. The Waco-based company operated for nearly a century, providing authentic worship environments for churches nationwide.

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On May 31, 1851, four charter members established the First Baptist Church of Waco. These members reached out to prominent missionary and Texan Rev. Noah T. Byers, offering him a salary of seventy-five dollars per year to pastor the church. The church initially was composed of only fifteen members and met in the meeting place of the First Methodist Church until obtaining a brick building of their own at Fourth Street and Mary Avenue in 1857. The construction of this first building was a community effort. Church member B. D. Arnold provided the brick from his own brick-laying company, and committees within the congregation ensured that the church’s basic needs such as lamps and pews were fulfilled. When completed, the church was one of the most impressive structures in Waco at that time.

A fire demolished the brick structure in 1877, and construction on a new church began almost immediately. Though the building efforts were not completed until 1883, the base floor was finished by 1880 and in use by the congregation for worship. At this time the church entered a period of innovative change under the leadership of B. H. Carroll. For the first time, women were allowed to serve as deacons in the church and worshippers implemented the use of musical instruments in their services. Carroll was known throughout the Baptist community for his profound theological knowledge and fierce leadership style. In 1870, the congregation appointed him pastor after he gained recognition in the local community for a revival hosted at New Hope Baptist Church earlier that year. He regarded his position as pastor as a commitment to be deeply honored and missed only one Sunday service throughout his time as pastor at First Baptist Church. In 1883, the First Baptist Church of Waco was invited to attend the Southern Baptist Convention in Richmond, Virginia, for the first time. Carroll served as pastor at First Baptist until 1899, when he was called to serve as a secretary for the Texas Baptist Education Commission.

In 1915, First Baptist Church’s longest-serving pastor, Dr. Joseph Martin Dawson, began his tenure. Dawson primarily focused upon social issues, as well as the church’s budget. During construction of the new church in the late nineteenth century, the church had incurred a significant amount of debt. Dawson worked to eradicate this, focusing on the budget even during the Depression, sacrificing his own salary in order to save the church money. During the Southern Baptist Convention’s 75 Million Dollar Campaign from 1914 to 1924, the First Baptist Church was assigned to raise $200,000, the largest portion given to any church. Dawson often preached about social justice issues such as racial and gender prejudice, as well as about the separation of church and state. In addition to his position as pastor of First Baptist, Dawson held many other leadership positions in the Baptist community. For instance, he served as the president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1922, the chairman of the Southern Baptist Committee on World Peace in 1945, and the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1945 to 1946.

First Baptist Church of Waco was highly involved with the establishment of quality education in Waco. It has been credited with the establishment of the Waco Classical School, which later became Waco University. This school was the first coeducational university in the South, and the second in the United States after a department for girls was added in 1866. In 1886, Waco University merged with Baylor University. First Baptist Church also aided in the creation of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and the George W. Truett Seminary located at Baylor University. The church also contributed to the founding of the Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in 1919.

Today, First Baptist Church continues to serve the Waco community through its dedication to worship, social justice, and commitment to higher education. Baylor University and First Baptist Church have retained a strong relationship since 1886 through Baylor’s many students, administration, and staff who worship at the church. The church continues its legacy of supporting the Waco community through ministries which aid groups such as Waco’s schoolchildren, disabled, and low-income families.

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