At a fountain named La Pila, children frequently splashed and played while others took a drink or filled jars and buckets with water. La Pila, meaning “the basin,” was the centerpiece and social hub of the historic Calle Dos neighborhood from the 1920s to the 1960s. Fed by an artesian well close by, the fountain produced warm, drinkable water to a neighborhood in which few had access to running water in their homes.

The origin of La Pila is unknown, although Waco newspapers suggest that the city authorized the construction of an artesian well near the area in 1915, and it was reported in 1933 that a fountain in the area was fed by a nearby well with warm water. Children would play and bathe in its waters, and families would bring containers to fill from its four faucets, taking the water home to use for cooking, drinking, and cleaning. Often day laborers gathered at La Pila, waiting to be picked up for work. The fountain’s artesian waters even drew Waco residents who did not live in Calle Dos. Rudy Solano, who lived in Calle Dos as a child, recalled that “people would pull up in their fancy cars and load up their fancy glass containers.” While La Pila held a communal significance for the residents of Calle Dos, it served the broader Waco area as well. 

In 1950, the waters of La Pila dried up. Although its practical use had faded, it still served as a gathering place for the community until Urban Renewal destroyed both Calle Dos and La Pila in 1958. Urban Renewal was an effort to clear “slums” from the downtown area, and it happened in cities across the nation. Low-income neighborhoods and minority communities were those most impacted, displaced from homes and businesses. La Pila was buried, and its concrete edges were damaged even further with the later expansion of University Parks Drive. 

In 2016 Alice Rodriguez, founder of the Waco Hispanic Museum, and Louis Gayton-Garcia decided that unearthing La Pila would be an excellent way to commemorate an important aspect of Waco Hispanic heritage. Partnering with archaeologist Katherine Turner-Pearson, the work to excavate the historic fountain began the following year with a grant for the project from Baylor Philanthropy and Public Service. The money was quickly exhausted, and Turner-Pearson used donations from the community and an army of volunteers, including students from the nearby Indian Spring Middle School, to contribute to the project and to educate the community about the process of excavation. 

In 2020, Pearson-Turner and the Waco Hispanic Museum wanted to take the project in very different directions. The Waco Hispanic Museum had wanted to completely unearth La Pila and create a small park or monument out of it, perhaps with benches and art surrounding it. Pearson-Turner, however, believed it would be best to rebury La Pila because of the complications in getting volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. She explained that it was a common archaeological practice to uncover an artifact enough to make a report about it and then backfill and rebury the item to protect it. With loss of funding and volunteers, the recommendation of the Texas Historical Commission to backfill, and the lack of a detailed plan with Waco ISD to turn the fountain into a monument on their property, La Pila became once again a buried memory. 

La Pila’s future is uncertain. It might be uncovered again and reconstructed, or it might remain as it is. Regardless of what happens, La Pila still stands in the memories of those who lived in Calle Dos as a symbol of their community, and the excavation project ensured that the legacy of La Pila was shared with a new generation of Wacoans. 

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Mutualistas were first established in Texas during the late nineteenth century by Mexican immigrants. These mutual aid societies provided immigrants with a connection to their home country and a support network to meet basic needs as they forged a life in a new and unfamiliar country. The popularity of mutualistas grew significantly in the twentieth century, with more than 100 estimated to be in Texas. While the majority of these mutualistas have closed, there are still a small number in operation today. This includes the mutualista in Waco, which has been a part of the community for approximately one hundred years.

Established on July 6, 1924, the Waco mutualista was initially located within the thriving Hispanic community living at and around Calle Dos. That same year, St. Francis on the Brazos was founded to serve the poor Mexican American community in the area. Likewise, the mutualista formed under principles of union, fraternity, and progress, with its primary goal centered on watching over the Mexican working-class community. This idea is reflected in its name, La Mutualista Sociedad de Jornaleros, as the word jornaleros means “laborers” in English.

As the mutualista was made up of a majority of Catholic members, the organization worked closely with St. Francis on the Brazos in scheduling so that the mutualista’s activities did not overlap with church activities. While most members were Catholic, a few were Protestant. Additionally, the mutualista in Waco allowed both men and women to participate, making it distinct from other mutualistas which were only open to men or had elitist membership restrictions.

The Waco mutualista held their first meetings on Bridge Street. They later relocated to another small building in the Calle Dos neighborhood just large enough to serve as a meeting space. Community festivities, such as dances and wedding celebrations, were held outdoors on a wooden platform—later replaced with a concrete slab. These events often drew large crowds, and over time the mutualista became a key entertainment center within the Calle Dos community.

Along with serving as a space for community members to celebrate their heritage, mutualistas provided access to services that community members were often denied, such as healthcare and education. They also advocated for improved working conditions and workers’ rights. Financial assistance was provided to cover expenses incurred from illnesses and funerals, which helped families prior to the era of hospitalization insurance and sick pay. Participation in mutualistas increased dramatically in the late 1800s and early 1900s, due to rising numbers of Mexican immigrants arriving in the American Southwest to fill low-skilled and low-waged occupations in areas such as farming, ranching, mining, and the growing railroad network. Financial hardship during the Great Depression forced many of these mutualistas to close. But the Waco mutualista continued to thrive through the thirties and forties, and growing membership meant an expansion was needed.

On July 17, 1952, the mutualista moved into a newly built hall located on 312 North Second Street. However, the organization’s time in this building was short-lived with the launching of Waco’s urban renewal program, which began in 1958 after a city-wide vote. By 1978, the Urban Renewal Project had helped channel more than $125 million into renovating Waco’s urban center. Slums and properties that were in disrepair along the Brazos River from modern-day LaSalle Avenue to several blocks past Waco Drive were cleared. Owners of cleared properties were compensated, though some controversy emerged over whether these payments were fair, especially considering that minorities were more impacted by the wide-spread renovation.

As part of the Urban Renewal Project, the homes and businesses of Calle Dos—many of which were in poor condition—were torn down. Among the buildings removed was the mutualista, and members relocated it to 2214 South Fifteenth Street, off LaSalle Avenue. This new property was purchased from a retired contractor. In addition to purchasing a building, the mutualista also bought five acres of land behind the property to be used for future expansion. Participation had boomed, and the organization had once again outgrown its previous location. The new site was larger than the previous location on North Second Street, with an occupancy of four hundred—making it ideal for hosting large dances and other community activities.

Today, the Waco mutualista continues to provide aid to the community, as it has since its founding. The organization collects money for scholarship funds, toy drives, and other service activities. While its focus remains on the Mexican American and Hispanic communities, the mutualista also seeks to serve the community at large—a continuation of its rich history of service.

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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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