Waco’s sporting history is colorful and diverse, not least due to the various minor league baseball teams that have called the city their home. One of the longest standing and most successful of these teams was the Waco Navigators, who played in Katy Park from 1906-1919.

Although the state of Texas did not boast a major league baseball team until 1962, Texans had been playing baseball since the 1860s. Initially, Texas baseball consisted only of a few amateur clubs, but by the 1880s, these teams began to pay some of their players, usually the pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. By 1887, there were at least six professional leagues in the United States, and Texas was not far behind. Spearheaded by John McCloskey, player and manager for the Joplin Independents, the Texas League came into a shaky existence in 1888, teams from Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio making up its ranks. The first few years were a rollercoaster for the fledgling league, with some teams sporadically running out of cash for their players’ salaries, others folding in the middle of the season, and the league sometimes terminating seasons ahead of schedule.

Waco’s baseball history began years before the founding of its first minor league clubs. Along with a few amateur teams, Waco was the home of several semi-professional black baseball teams beginning in the 1870s. It was not until 1889 that Waco’s first minor league baseball team began play. Between 1889 and 1906, Waco was the home of several minor league baseball teams, including the Waco Babies, Texans, Tigers, and Steers. Each of these teams belonged to the Texas League. In 1906, during the league’s early turmoil, Waco embraced yet another new baseball team. A public contest decided the team’s name, with the winners, Mrs. W. Sparks and Miss Mattie May Wilkes, selecting the name of “Navigators,” reflecting the efforts of Texans to navigate the Brazos River. The Navigators’ first season was less than impressive, resulting in a final record of thirty-two wins and ninety-six losses. These abysmal numbers earned the Navigators the last-place spot in that year’s Texas League standings. The next four years were equally unimpressive, possibly due to frequent turnover in the manager’s position. Between 1906 and 1911, the Navigators went through eight different managers. Finally, the team hired Ellis Hardy. Formerly the head baseball coach for Texas Christian University, Hardy became the most successful and longest tenured of the Navigator’s managers, and he led the team to its first winning season in 1911. From there the team began to climb, with its record improving steadily until 1914, when the Navigators tied seven-time league champions Houston Buffaloes for first place.

The end of the 1914 season would go down in Texas League history as one of the wildest and most contested finishes the league had ever seen. Going into the last series of the season, the Houston Buffaloes led the Navigators by a single game. Waco easily won both of its slated games against the Dallas Giants, giving them a winning percentage of .670 for the season. Houston, in its turn, came away victorious over the Galveston Pirates in its first game, but their second game remained unfinished, called due to darkness in the fifth inning. They had been losing badly. With the unfinished contest, Houston finished at .673, seemingly earning themselves the pennant. Indignant, Waco contested the unfinished game, saying it had been bright and sunny when the umpires stopped the game. Texas League historian William Ruggles, who attended the game, states that it was indeed dark when the fifth inning began, but by the time Galveston had finished batting the sky had cleared. On top of this, Waco then found out that, earlier that season, Houston had broken a league rule stating that the first game of a doubleheader had to be nine innings long, stopping at seven innings in the first game of a doubleheader against Austin. Texas League President W.R. Davidson threw out the result of the shortened game, ignoring the rule that stated the teams had to replay the contest. However, he had also learned that Waco had played a game with a player acquired after intraleague trades had ended. Unfortunately for Waco, Davidson threw out that game as well. Eventually, league administration credited both teams with records of 102-50, and the pennant race ended in a tie.

The Waco Navigators won the pennant for the next two seasons, making them back-to-back-to-back champions, an impressive feat. The Navigators continued playing until 1919. The 1919 season was a dismal one, with the team posting a 59-88 record, their only losing record since 1910. At the same time, the growing city of Wichita Falls, Texas, was experiencing an oil boom. Suddenly flush with cash, a Wichita Falls group bought the Navigators and moved the team, renaming them the Spudders after the oilfield slang for starting an oil well (not potatoes).

That same year, the newly organized Texas Colored League began to play. Among its founding teams was Waco’s newest minor league team: the Waco Black Navigators. The Black Navigators would go on to spend 1919 and 1920 in Waco, before moving to San Antonio as the Black Aces. The Black Navigators were not the last professional baseball team Waco would see in the twentieth century. Between 1920 and the demolition of Katy Park in the 1960s, Waco was the home of the Cubs, the Black Cardinals, the Dons, and the Pirates. Although Katy Park no longer stands, and Waco has not boasted a professional team since the 1950s, Wacoans have retained their love of the national pastime and recall their old clubs fondly.

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R. T. Dennis and Co. helped furnish the homes of Central Texas for nearly seventy years. Known for its exceptional quality furnishings, R. T. Dennis thrived in downtown Waco and served as the premier home décor destination. Unfortunately, the R. T. Dennis building, as well as the company, met their end when an F5 tornado leveled the building in May 1953.

R. T. Dennis and Co. was born out of the dream of two brothers, Robert T. Dennis and James K. Dennis, in 1886. The two brothers first moved to Central Texas in 1874 and worked as rail-splitters in Hillsboro for a short time. Robert then tried his hand in the grocery and dry-goods businesses, but his passion existed elsewhere. Robert joined the furniture business, taking a job in 1875 with W. P. Martin and Bro., Furniture as a delivery wagon driver. He saw promotions to salesperson and bookkeeper in the coming years. After twelve years of learning the trade, Robert felt confident to step out on his own, and he started R. T. Dennis and Brother with James in Gatesville. In 1889, they decided to move their operations to Waco, as the city was growing rapidly and taking off as a market center. In 1892, the Dennis brothers rented a building on the corner of Fifth Street and Austin Avenue constructed by Richard Coke, which they later purchased in 1904, and the scene was set for the expansion of their business.

What began largely as a coffin and funeral service business soon exploded into a vibrant retail and wholesale enterprise for all types of furniture and carpets. In the first six months of operations in Waco, the company’s net worth skyrocketed from $8,000 to $50,000. R. T. Dennis and Co. also opened stores in Hillsboro (run by James Dennis), Bryan, and Temple. This sudden rise to success made Robert Dennis an important man in the Waco community, and he soon became the director of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Waco and eventually invested in a number of business ventures in town, including the ALICO building. He also kick-started Dennis Manufacturing, which produced some of the furniture for his store. Robert even used a bit of pageantry to advertise his business and attract attention, sometimes putting the costumes from the local opera in his shop windows and always having an impressive display at the Texas Cotton Palace each year. By 1915, the Dennis brothers were able to buy out rival furniture store Stratton Furniture and further expand their reach in the Waco economy. Following World War I, R. T. Dennis and Co. purchased the Tom Padgitt Company building that abutted the store to use as a warehouse, making the entire block of Fifth Street from Austin Avenue to Franklin Avenue under R. T. Dennis’s ownership.

The 1920s brought further growth for the company but also the loss of its founder. In 1920, Dennis decided to incorporate for an impressive sum of $500,000, and the company became R. T. Dennis and Co., Inc. The same year, Dennis sold Dennis Manufacturing and dedicated the business entirely to retail and wholesale furniture. By 1924 the company had started a mattress factory and employed four traveling salesmen covering three states: Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. These men traveled with photographs and catalogs and allowed people to place orders for R. T. Dennis furniture from afar. This required the company to keep a large stock on hand, and as a result it purchased real estate around Waco to use as warehouses. One such purchase came in 1926 when R. T. Dennis bought Waco Dry Goods on Sixth Street and Jackson Avenue. The Hilton then tapped R. T. Dennis to furnish its new hotel in downtown Waco in 1928 (which later became the Roosevelt Hotel). This turned out to be Dennis’s last major business deal, as he died in June of 1928 of a prolonged illness. Treasurer Willard Robert Wigley, whose father, W. J. Wigley, had helped found R. T. Dennis and Co. and R. T. Dennis and Wigley Co. (Dallas), took over as president upon Dennis’s death and remained in that position until the dissolution of the company.

R. T. Dennis and Co. went on to weather the Depression of the 1930s quite well, marketing their products as necessary and practical. Robert Dennis’s nephew-in-law, Rush H. Berry, enjoyed a promotion in the mid-1930s from secretary to vice president, a position he held until his death. In the 1940s his own son, Labon E. Berry, filled the secretary position and become general manager, with business continuing steadily throughout World War II. In 1950 the company was named to the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers Guild, a guild reserved for only the highest-quality furniture companies.

Despite all its success, the end of R. T. Dennis and Co. came swiftly and suddenly. On May 11, 1953, a massive Category 5 tornado ripped through downtown Waco. The site of the R. T. Dennis building was classified as the “impact area,” receiving the full force of the twister. Both the R. T. Dennis and Tom Padgitt buildings were reduced to rubble. Of the thirty-one employees in the building, twenty-two were killed. Some employees sought shelter in the basement, only for the basement to flood when the debris punctured a water pipe. Rescue volunteers worked for three days straight trying to clear the rubble and recover the bodies of those inside.

Included in the deceased were Rush H. Berry, vice president and treasurer, and Labon E. Berry, secretary and general manager. President Willard Wigley stood as the only surviving executive of the company, and he was soon hospitalized in Dallas for leukemia. With all its leadership deceased or incapacitated, the R. T. Dennis Board of Directors decided to close the company for good and to liquidate the remaining stock in Hillsboro, Temple, and Bryan. In a somber address, the granddaughter of R. T. Dennis and chairwoman of the board, Mrs. William Sloane, broke the news to the public in October 1953 that R. T. Dennis and Co., Inc., would not reopen. The historical marker of the tornado is located near the former R. T. Dennis building location.

Though the memory of R. T. Dennis and Co. will forever be linked to the 1953 tornado, the company was a source of light and prosperity in Waco for decades through its dedication to the community and quality service.

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During the 1890s, the city of Waco was in a period of financial growth, and citizens were in need of a place to be entertained. Waco was home to several theaters and opera houses; however, local businessmen desired a large auditorium that would bring prominent stage productions, conventions, and money to the citizens of Waco. Respectable citizens called for a place to bring culture, as well as crowds and their wallets, to the young Brazos city.

After failed attempts to raise money for an auditorium in 1893 and 1894, due to the construction of the Texas Cotton Palace, a movement to build an auditorium began in 1899. A group of local businessmen, known as the Karnival Klub, strived to promote the interests of the city and presented plans for the Waco Auditorium. The Waco Auditorium Company was formed, and citizens of Waco donated money and bought stock in order to support the construction.

Plans for the building developed quickly. Built at the intersection of North Sixth Street and Columbus Avenue the Waco Auditorium held a prime location, sitting on top of a hill, and near the city’s businesses and hotels. On Thanksgiving Day, 1899, the greatly anticipated Waco Auditorium was dedicated. A heavily promoted opening included guests such as Governor Hogg and William Jennings Bryan to see the evening’s acts.

The building was originally built to seat about three thousand people, but by 1901, renovations cut capacity by half due to the lack of sold-out performances. The interior of the building was lush and elegant—dark red velvet covered seats, walls finished with terra cotta, crowned by a canary ceiling. Attending productions at the Waco Auditorium during its early seasons was a social and cultural event and was a place to socialize and to be seen by others. Visitors arrived by coach and wore their finest jewelry, and beautifully dressed women filled the mezzanine boxes.

The Waco Auditorium’s early seasons brought sophistication and refinement to Waco. Theatrical companies traveled to Waco in large numbers because of the large and modern facility, as well as Waco’s convenient location between Austin and Dallas. Acts included Shakespeare plays, opera, symphony orchestras, lectures, dances, musicals, minstrel shows, vaudeville, and magicians. By 1915, silent movies with orchestral accompaniment became a popular attraction. Prices of tickets ranged from ten cents to four dollars, depending on seating, time of the act, and caliber of performer.

By 1915, the Waco Auditorium had undergone many changes in management. Several previous theatrical seasons were slow, and ticket prices were reduced as a result. That year the auditorium’s longest manager, Gussie Oscar, took over the task of scheduling acts. Oscar traveled to New York City every summer to view and select performers. She organized more performances than any other manager at the Waco Auditorium and brought in big-name artists such as Fred and Adele Astaire.

With the decline of traveling acts during World War I, Oscar began booking controversial acts such as wrestling matches and chorus girls with flapper attire. Oscar also booked large amounts of vaudeville acts and movies to fit the needs of Camp MacArthur soldiers. Because of the level of popularity of movies such as The Birth of a Nation, Oscar violated Waco’s Sunday Closing Law resulting in her arrest. Oscar pleaded for a settlement and promised to never schedule shows on Sundays again, however, she was arrested once more in her career for the same offense. Oscar continued to run a strict business, though, and fired employees who showed up to work late or out of uniform.

The auditorium’s business began to decline during the 1920s for several reasons. New movie houses competed for consumer dollars and theater audiences declined. Camp MacArthur also closed its doors after the war, meaning soldiers were no longer a large source of revenue. The physical shape of the auditorium suffered due to the lack of funds from ticket sales to refurbish it, and it became difficult to schedule performances. The Waco Auditorium was sold in 1928, and torn down in 1929.

Because of the venue, Wacoans were introduced to Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, the Marx Brothers, and many others. The Waco Auditorium entertained citizens with over 2,400 performances for thirty years, and brought sophistication and culture to the city.

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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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A proudly old-fashioned medicine in retro packaging that features a turn-of-the-twentieth-century tot is not only a vestige of Waco’s drug store past—it is a part of its present as well.

The preparation known since 1938 as Percy Medicine was born in Waco in 1904 as Baby Percy Medicine with the collaboration of traveling buggy-whip salesman A. W. Percy and Waco druggist W. S. Merrick.

While traveling by train to relocate to Waco in 1898, the Percy family’s young son e Albert came down with diarrhea—a serious and often fatal illness for children at the turn of the century. At a stop in Kentucky, a country doctor mixed up a concoction of bismuth subnitrate-based medicine. Soon, baby Percy was on the mend and the family continued on its way.

After arriving in Waco, A. W. Percy asked pharmacist W. S. Merrick to prepare the Kentucky recipe to help the child through another bout of upset stomach. The results were so stellar that the druggist asked the lad’s father to join him in a venture to market and sell the elixir, which came to be known as Baby Percy Medicine.

The company, officially born on January 1, 1904, continues to manufacture the remedy to this day. When two former Behren’s Drug Company employees—Frank J. Trau and Louis Collie—joined the company in 1905, it officially incorporated as the Merrick Drug Company. The pair continued to run the business until the 1940s.

Percy Medicine, as it has been called since 1938, was the only product produced by Merrick Medicine Company at the factory at Eighth Street and Webster Avenue in Waco. It is mixed and bottled by hand and contains “a secret formula of bismuth subsalicylate, calcium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, as well as rhubarb extract, sugar, cinnamon, and orange flavoring.” In fact, Percy Medicine holds the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s longest continuously active industrial alcohol-use permit, No. 10, issued in 1939 since the preparation contains 5 percent ethyl alcohol.

In the mid-twentieth century, a small crew reported to the second floor of the Percy Medicine building about one Saturday per month to produce six thousand three-ounce bottles. Each batch has a shelf life of three years, according to company publications. The batches were then sold to wholesalers, who distributed the product around the country.

The manufacturer suggests its use for diarrhea, indigestion, cholera infantum, and “summer complaints of children. Relieves sour stomach instantly. A safe and reliable teething and colic medicine for babies.”

However, in the early twenty-first century, Merrick Medicine ceased operations at its Fifth Street location and contracted Humco Holding Group of Texarkana to produce the medicine. In 2013, Katie Croft, owner of Croft Art Gallery, and husband James Croft, purchased the former production plant with plans to renovate the building and relocate the gallery. Their renovation plans never came to fruition, and in the summer of 2015, a local retailer purchased and began to refurbish the building. After spending a few years as home to both The Findery, a home décor retailer, and the Boiler Room, a bar, local group WPV Development purchased the building in hopes of leasing it to a new downtown restaurant or retailer.

Today, the Percy Medicine building stands as a nod to the enterprising efforts of one of Waco’s longest-operating companies, while its recent repurposing keeps locals hopeful that it will retain a vital role at the heart of the city’s economic operations.

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Joining the recently completed Amicable building, the Praetorian building towered over the city in 1915 as one of the first skyscrapers in Central Texas. The building’s unique architecture and distinctive character ensured that it continued to serve Wacoans long after the renowned Praetorian Insurance Company closed its offices.

The Modern Order of Praetorians, a nonprofit fraternal insurance organization founded by Charles Gardner in Dallas in 1898, rapidly expanded in the early twentieth century to cities throughout Texas. At that time, five of the state’s largest insurance companies held home offices in the rapidly urbanizing Waco, contributing to the city’s reputation in trade publications as the “Insurance City of Texas.” This prestige, combined with Waco’s rapid development, drew the attention of the Praetorians as the fraternal organization searched for new locations, and in 1911, a Praetorian office opened in Waco.

The Praetorians employed C. W. Bulger and Son to design a high-rise building to house a Waco chapter. The Dallas-based firm, strongly influenced by the Chicago architectural style, had previously designed the Praetorian’s home office in Dallas in 1909 and based the Waco building off a similar design. Begun in 1913 and completed in 1915, the seven-story building featured a gray granite base, terra-cotta tile detailing, large show windows, and the Praetorian shield logo. The interior featured marble wainscoting, tile floors, and high ceilings with deep cornices and pilaster at its construction, although alterations to the building in the 1950s removed some of these details.

The opportunity to lease space in Waco’s newest skyscraper clearly interested many Waco businesses. By 1916, floors three through seven housed tenants, with the Praetorian offices on the sixth floor. The seventh floor housed operations for several railroad companies which played an integral role in twentieth-century commerce in Waco. When First State Bank and Trust rented out the first floor and basement for its operations between 1917 and 1933, the Praetorian building became known as one of the most attractive and functional bank buildings throughout Texas.

Over the years, the historic building has borne several names. In 1934, it became known as the Service Mutual building. The name changed to the Southwestern building in 1956 when the Praetorians sold it as a part of the consolidation process that accompanied the firm’s shift from a fraternal organization to a mutual company a few years later. For short periods of time, the building was also known as Franklin Tower, One Liberty Place, and the Liberty building as it changed hands between different insurance companies.

Following its sale, the once grand Praetorian building entered into a period of disuse. For a few short years between 1962 and 1965, the Veterans Administration operated from its premises. However, tenancy dropped rapidly after 1965, and beginning in 1973, the building sat vacant.

Yet some saw the unique structure's value and sought to restore its historic dignity. W. S. Service Corporation later purchased the building and identified it as a candidate for rehabilitation and renovation. On July 26, 1984, the National Register of Historic Places added the building to its list as an exemplar of the Chicago School of architecture. In 1989, a new owner dubbed it Williams Tower, although it became known as the Praetorian building once again beginning in 1996.

Though the Praetorian building of Dallas was torn down in 2013, the Waco Praetorian remains largely the same as it did in 1915. The building’s current owner, Peter Ellis, received a tax incentive in 2013 to renovate and restore the building. Several floors today contain loft-style apartments. Other portions of the building house Anthem Studios, and the owner continues to consider options for opening a restaurant and retail stores in the future.

Just as the extravagant structure reflected twentieth-century prosperity at the time of its construction, the newly renovated Praetorian building towers over the city today, an integral part of the reinvigoration of downtown Waco. 

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The Old Corner Drugstore is the birthplace of Dr Pepper. In 1885, Morrison’s Old Corner Drugstore introduced Dr Pepper to customers who eagerly drank the sweet concoction of twenty-three different flavors. Located at 329 Austin Avenue on the bottom floor of the McClelland Hotel, there could be no better first home for the future “King of Beverages” than the heart of Waco’s financial district.

Throughout the early 1880s, Waco drugstores such as Tucker’s Lion Drug Store, Risher’s Drug Store, and Castle and Company vied to win the affection of customers. During this period of intense competition, Wade Morrison moved to Waco to become a partner in Castle and Company. In what turned out to be a fateful business move, Morrison hired Charles Alderton, another recent arrival in Waco, to be the pharmacist at his drugstore now exclusively known as Morrison’s Old Corner Drugstore.

While the pharmaceutical offerings of the Old Corner Drugstore were its mainstay, its soda fountain became a popular hangout for children and adults alike. At a time when people widely believed in the medicinal properties of carbonated drinks, it is not surprising that Alderton devoted as much time to devising interesting drinks for customers to try as he did dispensing medicine. One day by chance he hit upon the perfect combination of twenty-three flavors, creating the popular drink that customers at the Old Corner Drugstore originally referred to as “a Waco.” Morrison named the drink Dr Pepper and applied for a patent stating the original date of creation as December 1, 1885. Eventually outside demand for the Dr Pepper syrup outstripped the ability of the Old Corner Drugstore to meet it, so Morrison relocated the syrup’s production to a building on the corner of Fifth and Mary, the site of the current Dr Pepper Museum.

Sensing that the business landscape of the community was changing, Morrison decided to move the Old Corner Drugstore away from the McClelland Hotel. In 1912, he opened the doors to the new Old Corner Drugstore location next door to the towering Amicable Life Insurance building (now known as the ALICO building). Relocating the Old Corner Drugstore next to Waco’s only skyscraper proved to be an astute business move for Wade Morrison, as the then tallest building west of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixie line drew in significant foot traffic to the storefront. 

Morrison’s death in 1924 did not lead to the immediate closure of the Old Corner Drugstore. The store continued to operate over the next twenty years under various owners.

Although the memory of the Old Corner Drugstore lives on today, both of its physical locations are no more. In 1953, both sites suffered severe damage as a result of the F5 tornado that struck downtown Waco on May 11. The former location of each now serves the Waco community as part of its parking infrastructure. 

For more information about the Old Corner Drugstore, visit the Dr Pepper Museum. To learn more about the museum, visit www.drpeppermuseum.com. 

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Sanger Brothers department stores were often described as the pioneer retail stores of Texas. Yet these successful mercantile ventures arose from humble beginnings. Between 1852 and 1874, five of the seven Sanger brothers immigrated to America from Germany to pursue greater entrepreneurial opportunities. Although the brothers initially separated and spread throughout the country, they slowly came back together in the years following the Civil War to join the dry goods business that Isaac, the eldest brother, operated from a storefront in McKinney. As more brothers joined the business, it slowly expanded along the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, opening stores in cities such as Millican, Decatur, Bryan, Dallas, and eventually Waco.

Sam Sanger traveled to the United States in 1866 and lived in the Northeast for several years serving as a rabbi and a teacher. In 1872, he opened a small shoe store in New York, but closed it the following year when Isaac summoned him to Texas in order to open their newest location. On March 4, 1873, Sam opened Sanger Brothers in the heart of downtown Waco on the square between Austin Avenue and Bankers’ Alley.

The new enterprise started out small, with just $1,300 worth of stock and only two employed clerks at its opening. Despite this, the business still carried a variety of goods. The Waco Daily Examiner ran a full-page advertisement listing the items which could be found at Sanger Brothers, including “dry goods, clothing, boots, shoes, hats, caps, gents’ furnishing goods, carpets, oil cloths,” and more. By 1876, business expanded beyond the capacity of the small shop, and Sam Sanger purchased a new, larger building on Austin Avenue between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. That same year, all of the branches of the Sanger Brothers franchise closed, except for the two most successful locations in Waco and Dallas.

Despite the closures, the success and expansion of the Waco Sanger Brothers store continued. In 1882,Sanger purchased another building on Austin Avenue and began to rent out the old Waco Opera House and warehouse in order to open a wholesale department. Sanger Brothers continued to develop their reputation in Waco based upon providing the best selection of goods in town and a dedication to meeting customer needs in any situation.

News of the onset of World War I and the decline of the cotton market in 1915 provided the first hint of trouble for the Waco department store. Farmers who purchased goods on credit from the wholesale department were increasingly no longer able to pay their bill. But business boomed during the actual war as industry production increased throughout the country, and on December 17, 1918, Sanger Brothers incorporated.

The store received a second and more serious indication of trouble on December 18, 1919, when Sam Sanger died. His charismatic leadership of the company contributed greatly to its success, and none of the other executives were prepared to take over. Although his son, Asher Sanger, took over leadership, the company sustained fiscal losses between 1918 and 1926, when it was then sold to a Saint Louis firm. Unable to recover from these losses, and hit hard by the Great Depression, Sanger Brothers finally closed its doors on March 15, 1931. In its announcement of Sanger Brothers’s closure, the Waco Tribune-Herald noted the dismay of many Wacoans at the loss of this institution, stating that thousands were expected to show up for the sales during the store’s final days.

For over half a century, Sanger Brothers served as a highly successful venture in the heart of downtown because of its commitment to variety and quality in merchandise, as well as excellence in customer service.

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Waco enjoyed an unprecedented level of economic prosperity when cotton was king in the early twentieth century. During this period, Waco’s prominent families commissioned residences that would speak to their affluence and elevated station. The Migel House at 1425 Columbus Avenue stands as an impressive architectural reminder of those boom years and the private citizens who sought to create a legacy for themselves through brick and mortar.

When investor Nelson Smith relocated to Waco from nearby Belton, Texas, he commissioned legendary Waco architect Milton W. Scott to build his family home on Columbus Avenue. Completed in 1910, the mansion served as the Smith residence for only a few years before it was sold to Louey Migel. A prominent Wacoan in his own right, Migel was part owner of the Goldstein-Migel department store which was a fixture in Waco retail for many years. The Migel family owned the house until 1969. In the years following, the house functioned as off-campus housing for Baylor University until the Freeman House paid $200,000 to use the residence as the women’s dormitory for its drug rehabilitation program. The Migel House is now privately owned.

The Migel House is a beautiful example of Beaux Arts revival style. Its Doric columns and the urns flanking the front walkway are reminiscent of a Greek temple, while the terra-cotta tiles and scalloped roof recall the architecture of a Spanish mission. The brickwork featuring festoons and cartouches makes this two-story structure one of the most uniquely adorned historic houses in Waco. The exterior of the house has remained largely the same for more than a century.

The driveway is covered by a brick porte cochere. A carriage house, built at the same time as the Migel House, sits in the back corner of the property and echoes the Beaux-Arts style.

The interior of the house has much of its original moulding, pocket doors, hand-painted canvas wallpaper, and stained glass windows. The full basement of this more than 10,000- square-foot home features a wooden bowling lane. Notably, the house survived the great tornado of 1953 that ripped through downtown Waco.

The Migel House remains a testament to a golden age of Waco architecture and the affluence that made such residences possible.  

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Sandtown was a vibrant and predominately Mexican American neighborhood that was active from the turn of the twentieth century to the 1960s. It encompassed the area of downtown Waco between Third Street and the Brazos River, and the seven blocks between Mary Street and present-day Baylor Law School. There were multiple interpretations on the actual boundaries of Sandtown as no official borders were ever established by the city of Waco.

At its peak during the 1950s, approximately fifty working-class families, such as the Fuentes, the Martinezes, and the Vasquezes, resided in Sandtown. For many of the community’s families, the neighborhood was the first place they called home within the United States after emigrating from Mexico. Former resident Jesse Serrano, recalling his experience of growing up in Sandtown, remarked, “I wish that we were still at our neighborhood here and that I could return to live here because it was an enjoyable place and we did keep it clean in spite of everything – the storms, the sandstorms, for what reason Sandtown was named.” Indeed, the neighborhood's sandy surroundings were a result of its proximity to the Brazos River. One resident later recalled watching his neighbors cast a line out their bedroom window to fish.

There were a few businesses located within Sandtown, from grocery stores and auto garages to barbershops and beer joints. Memorable establishments include Sunbright Waste Paper Company, Ruben Bravo’s Produce Company, and Rubles’ Grocery Store. Some of the schools in the neighborhood included South Third Street Elementary and A. J. Moore High School. Religious and social gathering sites such as an Assembly of God sanctuary and "The Blue Moon" nightspot also dotted the Sandtown landscape.

In 1958, the city of Waco voted to participate in the federal urban renewal program. As only property owners could vote, Sandtown residents, who were tenants primarily, had almost no chance of defeating the proposition. Only a small portion of the neighborhood’s residents were able to participate. One of the purposes of urban renewal was to eliminate slums in the downtown area, and the program directors quickly set their sights on Sandtown. As a result, the residents of the neighborhood soon found themselves scattered across the city, county, and beyond. “I’ve been quoted more than once as calling it ‘urban removal’ because it uprooted the Hispanic family in the worst way,” maintained former resident Robert Gamboa.

The people of Sandtown added greatly to Waco’s rich diversity and its working class residents contributed to the economic growth of the city. Though small in size and for many years lacking formal recognition, there is no dispute over Sandtown’s significance amongst its former residents. For these individuals, Sandtown was the place they grew up in, suffered hardships, and created countless wonderful memories. As Jesse Serrano affirmed, “Sandtown did exist, Sandtown is still here, and it will always be here in our hearts.”

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In 1886, Wacoans Isaac A. Goldstein and Louey Migel formed the Goldstein-Migel Company in order to try their hand at retail. The partners opened their first store on the ground floor of a building in the 700 block of Austin Avenue with only two clerks in their employ. After just one year of business, Goldstein and Migel possessed sufficient means to annex the adjacent building, thereby doubling their store’s capacity.

The store moved to the corner of Sixth Street and Austin Avenue in the 1890s. The new two-story, double-front brick building allowed Goldstein and Migel to expand the store’s inventory to meet the demands of a rapidly growing customer base. However, on August 18, 1891, tragedy struck when a fire destroyed the entire building. The company lost $80,000 in property damages.

Following the fire, the store was rebuilt and then renovated and expanded several times in the following years. In order to remain competitive with their local rivals, Goldstein-Migel became one of the first dry goods stores in Waco to make use of electric fans, elevators, air conditioning, and public restrooms. The department store even featured a soda fountain and a small restaurant for a time. Goldstein-Migel touted itself in advertisements as “Waco’s greatest department store.” While this claim was certainly embellished for promotional purposes, shoppers could find a variety of quality goods within its walls. The store carried a diverse assortment of clothing, furniture, jewelry, housewares, and other dry goods, spread out in lavishly decorated departments. 

During the second half of the twentieth century, Goldstein-Migel faced the challenges of suburbanization and economic downturn. In a bid to cater to a customer base that was increasingly relocating to the suburbs by the early 1960s, Goldstein-Migel opened a second location at the Lake Air Mall. Not to be forgotten, the original Goldstein-Migel location became one of the centerpieces of the Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall, an urban renewal project sponsored by the City of Waco in 1970. Urban planners hoped that by closing the street to traffic and beautifying the space, residents would see the downtown as a viable shopping destination once again. Unfortunately, the mall failed to attract the long-term loyalty of customers, and the venture was abandoned in 1984. The demise of the pedestrian mall led to the demolition of Goldstein-Migel’s downtown location and the transfer of all operations to the suburban department store. Yet not even the suburbs could save Goldstein-Migel when difficult economic times led to the closure of the Lake Air Mall, forcing the department store to cease operations for good.

In spite of a competitive retail industry and the fickle economy, Goldstein-Migel proved its success through over a century of faithful service to Wacoans.

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Decades before American Idol made stars out of wannabes, Waco had its own hit-maker, Mary Holliday.

Holliday (1901-1969), believed to be the first female radio announcer in Texas, broadcast a thirty-minute youth talent show each Saturday for more than thirty years. She started in radio in 1925, working as a studio pianist at WJAD-AM, which became WACO-AM in 1927. The show launched shortly thereafter.

But the program — known as the "Jones' Fine Bread Kiddie Matinee Show" — proved so popular it was moved in 1932 to the Waco Theatre. It was broadcast there weekly until 1956.

In the show's heyday, Holliday would invite youngsters ages 5 to 14 who could sing, play an instrument or act to come two weeks in advance to audition for the show. Successful performers were given a slot in the program. If an act wasn't up to par, the ever-gracious Holliday would not dash the auditionee's hopes but rather suggest that they go home and practice some more.

One of the most famous alumni of Holliday's show is Hank Thompson, a Country Music Hall-of-Famer whose career has spanned six decades and who has sold more than sixty million records worldwide.

The young performers received free admission to Holliday's show, while audience members paid a quarter a head to get in. The children competed for humble cash prizes of fifty cents to two dollars.

Besides the variety show, Holliday was known for the talk show What's Doing Around Waco, which began as a fifteen-minute filler in 1938 and had expanded to an hour long show by 1950.

Holliday also was much in demand as a public speaker because of her many adventures overseas. 

"She took her radio audiences to France, England, Italy, Germany and other faraway places with her tape recorder," Holliday's July 7, 1969, Tribune-Herald obituary noted.

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Shortly after the 1936 flood waters had receded and cleanup was well under way, disaster struck Waco again. On October 4, the Liberty Building on Austin Avenue and Sixth Street exploded, fatally wounding 65-year-old janitor Warren Moore and causing an estimated $290,000 in damages to the structure, as well as those adjoining and nearby. Fortunately it happened on an early Sunday morning without the usual hustle and bustle of the busy Waco downtown area, or else casualties could have been much higher. Businesses affected by the incident included the F. W. Woolworth Co.; Law Offices of Sleeper, Boynton, and Kendall; Walgreens Drug Store; Pipkin Drug Store; and Goldstein-Migel department store. Other businesses suffered minor damage, and isolated injuries to people were reported.

A Waco News-Tribune article from October 5, 1936 detailed the Liberty Building's damages: “With its first three office floors converted into single rooms by force of the explosion Sunday morning, the Liberty building showed destruction from its basement to its roof.” The structure next door, F. W. Woolworth Co., suffered an estimated $75,000 in losses due to fire. The law office located on the fourth floor of the Liberty Building sustained serious damage. Its law library, several thousand volumes of books, was its greatest loss. The blast completely destroyed Pipkin Drug Store on the first floor. The nearby Walgreens Drug Store suffered heavy damage to its storefront and interior. 

In the aftermath of the explosion, investigators wasted little time searching for the cause of such a devastating accident. One initial theory was that a massive buildup of floodwater had overburdened the city’s sewage system and triggered the blast. However, the Liberty Building’s location on Sixth Street and Austin Avenue proved to be too much of a distance from the most affected areas closer to the river for this theory to be plausible.

After almost two years of thorough investigation, engineers determined that the explosion was caused by a gas leak from a loose coupling device on a two-inch pipe in the Liberty Building’s basement. Records from gas companies showed a surge in pressure around the time of the explosion. Based on some of Warren Moore’s statements before his death, it is believed that a spark from a light switch ignited the gas leak as the janitor turned out lights before seeking assistance with the sudden gaseous odor. Unfortunately, that well-intentioned move cost him his life. 

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Waco entered an economic slump in the aftermath of the 1953 Waco tornado, urban renewal in the 1960s, and the Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall in the 1970s and ‘80s. Many businesses either moved or closed their doors permanently during this time. Yet one business thrived during the downtown economic collapse—Tito’s Downtown Barbershop. The barbershop survived because its owner, Santos “Tito” Martinez, provided motivation for customers to come downtown for haircuts through his customer service.

For Tito, cutting hair is not merely a means of employment, but also the art of human interaction. His dedication to his customers is the reason why his barbershop has flourished.

Tito entered into the barber trade in 1957, at the age of twenty, following a brief stint with the former William Cameron Company. “Get in. It’s good. You’ll learn something,” Tito recollected his friend, Joe Gutierrez, saying while trying to persuade him to enter the Waco Barber College as he was walking one day. After six months of training and a brief trip to Austin for the examination, Tito began cutting hair professionally at a barbershop on South Third Street on the city square.

Yet the United States government had another plan for Tito. Just eight months after beginning his new trade, the US Army drafted him as a medic to serve in Korea during peacetime operations. Though his situation had changed, Tito continued to practice his barber trade while in the service.

Following his discharge in 1961 and a brief stint working in a barbershop owned by Manuel Cruz on Jefferson Avenue, Tito found a new home for his own barbershop on Austin Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Nearly seven years later, he moved to his current location in the National Lloyds Building located near the corner of Austin Avenue and Ninth Street.

Inside his current barbershop, numerous photographs of people hang along the walls, small black-and-white testimonies to the many relationships Tito has formed over the years as one of Waco’s longest-serving barbers. A majority of these photographs are of his family. He frequently enjoys sharing his pride for them and the joy they bring to his life with his customers.

There are also two small oatmeal-colored business cards that rest inside the bottom left corner of his mirror. They are among Tito’s most cherished items. Written on the cards are the names of Lyndon Lowell Olson Jr., former United States Ambassador to Sweden, and the late Bernard Rapoport, famed philanthropist and founder of the American Income Life Insurance Company. Tito considers each of these men to be among the many friends he has made over the years.

Tito recalled, “Some people say, Well how come you don’t have appointments? And Mr. Rapoport and Lyndon says, What do you want an appointment for? You sit and talk and enjoy yourself.” Both of these men understood that you came to Tito’s Barbershop primarily for a good chat and then a haircut.

Looking back Tito said, “You know, really I say, in my business, I enjoy it, what I do. That’s why I still come down here. I believe it’s good to get out and meet people and talk to people.”

Tito has no intentions to quit his beloved occupation anytime soon, planning to continue his conversations and haircuts for years to come. He and his barbershop serve as a testimony to the way in which some businesses were able to weather tough economic times through their dedication to customers and the community.  

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Waco rapidly industrialized in the early decades from its founding. The arrival of the railroad and the building of the Suspension Bridge increased the numbers of travelers through the region, and the city soon became a thriving urban center. In 1871, Peter McClelland, a local civic leader, built the McClelland House Hotel at the corner of Fourth Street and Austin Avenue in order to meet the growing demand of visitors. The hotel opened in 1872, and served as an important attraction for businessman and travellers until McClelland’s death in 1886. Issues with his will arose, and in the 1920s the hotel was put up for sale in order to pay attorney fees associated with settling the estate. Conrad Hilton, who would later become known for his international hotel chain, bought the property at that time. The third Hilton Hotel in Texas opened in Waco in 1927.

Despite Hilton’s early success, the Great Depression took a toll on his finances. Forced to give up three of his eight hotels, Hilton decided to sell his Waco business to local investors. At that time, the new owners left the original style of the hotel largely intact, changing only the name. In 1934, the hotel became known as the Roosevelt Hotel, in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.

The Roosevelt Hotel soon became known as the “acme of hoteldom,” according to the Waco Tribune-Herald in 1936. Owned and staffed completely by Wacoans, the hotel’s friendly atmosphere and vigilant attentiveness to guests’ needs established it as a Waco institution. Many visitors expressed that the hotel’s desirability came from its unique combination of modernity and hospitality. The Tribune-Herald also noted that the hotel brought in a constant stream of transcontinental tourists and traveling men to the city, stimulating economic prosperity. During the 1940s, the hotel's Cadet Club was a popular hotspot where Waco Army Airfield cadets and their dates could enjoy the dancefloor and the music of the day.

The Roosevelt Hotel stood strong through the mid-twentieth century, surviving the Great Depression and even the 1953 Waco tornado. It was one of three buildings in the deadly storm’s path to remain standing. The building’s solid architecture and steel frame ensured that it incurred little damage; even the large sign on the roof remained intact. Yet the hotel could not survive the serious blow dealt to downtown when large retailers began moving out into the suburbs. As more and more retailers left the city, business slowed for the Roosevelt. The hotel closed in 1961.

In 1963, the Roosevelt Hotel became the Regis Retirement Home after Allan McDonnell bought the building and donated it to the Catholic Church. The retirement home added an outdoor terrace and sundeck to the former hotel and renovated several other aspects of the building. In 2003, the retirement home moved all of its residents to Providence Park and placed the historic building up for auction.

Local builder Mike Clark bought the building in 2004 and began a renovation project converting the former hotel into luxury high-rise offices. The renovations included opening the first floor to restaurants and retail and the creation of ten floors of office space. The grand ballroom on the second floor has been restored and can be rented out for parties and events. The majority of office space in the Roosevelt Tower is now occupied by businesses interested in reinvigorating downtown. The renovation of historic buildings such as the Roosevelt Tower provides a unique opportunity for the community to participate in Waco’s future by supporting its history.

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For over one hundred years, St. Paul’s has continued to meet the needs of congregants and community members alike from its location at the corner of North Fifth Street and Columbus Avenue.

On January 9, 1868, Bishop Alexander Gregg appointed Rev. Silas Dean Davenport to establish an Episcopalian mission within Waco. The Parish of St. Paul was subsequently organized on March 19, 1868, and the Reverend W. W. Patrick served as its first rector. St. Paul’s original congregants met outdoors and in private homes prior to the construction of a building on Fourth and Webster in 1870. When that structure was sold to the city of Waco in 1878, the church moved to North Fifth Street and Columbus Avenue. While the new sanctuary was under construction, parishioners temporarily attended services in the building’s basement. In 1897, in order to accommodate increased numbers, the sanctuary underwent further renovations. St. Paul’s has the distinction of being Waco’s oldest-standing church building still in use by its current congregation.

The church bears the marks of its long history. For example, cracks in the wooden floor of the sanctuary mark where the original walls stood before the expansion in 1897. If one looks close, numerous divots in the wood created from years of wear from high-heeled shoes are also visible.

The church contains beautiful stained glass windows. The windows all have stories of their own due to their association with donors. For instance, the windows of the four apostles were presented to the church by the Pidcoke family of Pidcoke, Texas, to serve as a memoriam to their parents who had long since passed and whose grave sites were unknown. Rumor has it that the depiction of Saint Luke bears a striking resemblance to Reginald Pidcoke himself. Not limited to the sanctuary, stained glass windows adorn many other areas of the church, including the bell tower. The stained glass window found on the second-story platform of the tower is attractive for more than its colorful panes. All around the edge of the window, one can find the penciled-in signatures of the men who worked to build the bell tower.

St. Paul’s bell tower is three stories tall and only accessible by ladder. It houses St. Paul’s antique bell. The bell is the only known item left from the original St. Paul’s location on the corner of Fourth and Webster. Though over a hundred years old, the bell still rings to welcome parishioners to church services every Sunday.

Valued for both its rich history and present ministry, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church remains a dynamic member of Waco’s greater faith community.  

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City Tire and Battery is a third-generation family-owned establishment started by aspiring entrepreneur George Berry Graves Sr. The business began at Third Street, Washington Avenue, and Franklin Avenue, in the commercial center of downtown Waco in 1942. Graves tried several other business enterprises before settling in the tire industry, such as a floor sweep business and a Colorado-based Dr Pepper distributorship. Despite Graves’ entrepreneurial spirit, these businesses struggled due to the slow Depression-era economy. Following these failed attempts, Graves desired to invest in something that people would always need regardless of the economy, deciding to invest in the tire business with his friend Austin Closs. They became one of the few Central Texas tire distributors around this time because of rubber shortages during World War II.

After the war, Closs sold out his half of the business to go into the appliance trade with his son. Graves Sr. still controlled the operation but hired local Wacoan Wilbur Parsons to handle the daily needs of the shop and to keep affairs going smoothly. He also hired Shep Cannon and John Griffis as tire salesmen, and they greatly contributed to the emerging business.

Between 1946 and 1949, City Tire and Battery experienced great success thanks to loyal customers and to the shop’s superior location on the Waco Square. City Tire and Battery was the only Firestone Tire distributor in the Central Texas region. In 1949, Graves decided to move across the street to a bigger building that the Hicks Rubber Company recently had vacated and to delve into the automotive repair aspect of the company. He also opened an additional store at Eleventh Street and Franklin Avenue. This store remained open for several years before the company returned to single-store operations.

The Waco Tornado of 1953 narrowly missed the building and no substantial damage was inflicted, but tires were thrown into the streets by the intense winds and windows were broken. The tornado destroyed most of downtown along Austin Avenue. George Jr. recalls being enlisted by George Sr. to pick up stray tires that had been thrown for blocks around the town. Downtown Waco was the center of the national news, and even today the tornado is known as one of the deadliest storms of the century.

In 1957, the company hired a new mechanic, local E. H. Kelly, jumpstarting the repair aspect of the company. Kelly was a talented mechanic and people came from miles around to have him work on their cars, whether it was a simple alignment check or more complex motor problems. Kelly had a very likeable personality and worked with Graves Sr. until the latter’s death in 1995.

In 1959, Parsons, Cannon, and Griffis left City Tire in order to start their own tire distributorship. They named their business General Tire and located it at Eighteenth Street and Herring Avenue. The following year, Graves’ son, George Berry Graves Jr., graduated from Baylor and joined his father at City Tire and Battery. His tireless work ethic and hands-on work approach kept the business alive and helped it to thrive against the competition.

In 1963, City Tire and Battery moved from Third Street and Washington Avenue to its present-day location on South Valley Mills Drive as a result of the urban renewal of downtown Waco. Today, the business continues to serve customers with the same work ethic and goal of developing personal relationships between customers and staff in order to meet customer needs. City Tire and Battery is still operated by the same family that started it years ago.

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Completed in 1970, the Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall opened to high expectations. The City of Waco created the pedestrian mall in an effort to bring consumers back to the downtown district, closing down the street to automobiles and only allowing foot traffic. The Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall featured walkways connecting many stores in one central location. After a 1953 tornado wiped out much of the city's downtown commercial life, Waco's Downtown Merchants Association proposed the creation of a pedestrian mall to lure Wacoans back into the traditional commercial district and away from the suburban shopping centers. In 1958, the City of Waco became one of thousands of cities to participate in the nationwide urban renewal program. Urban Renewal efforts in Waco aimed to clear blighted areas around the city including homes, buildings, and city streets, forcing many citizens and businesses to relocate. 

The downtown district was one of the areas chosen for Urban Renewal in 1968. According to a city planning report from 1966, the attitude of downtown merchants had been one of discouragement, with clerks uninterested in making sales and large numbers of panhandlers downtown. The Urban Renewal Agency of Waco aimed to remedy this situation, and began efforts to restore downtown Waco through was became known as the Brazos Project. The Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall was to be the central feature in the Brazos Urban Renewal district, which would cover 155 acres from 12th Street to the river, between Washington and Franklin avenues. The project awarded to Young Brothers Inc. in December 1969 and cost upwards of $850,000. When the mall was formally dedicated in January 1971, cars were banned from the area of Fifth to Ninth streets until the Waco City Council voted in February 1979 to reopen the Austin Avenue to vehicle traffic going one-way. Though the construction of the mall heralded a brighter future for the downtown district to the citizens of Waco, they were ultimately disappointed, and the Pedestrian mall proved a failure. 

The reasons for the decline of the mall are numerous. For instance, customers could only enter the walkway of the mall by parking their vehicles outside and walking in through the back of a store. Parking for the mall was supposed to be "available, convenient and free," but those plans were never formulated. Inclement weather also proved to be a major issue since store awnings provided little cover from rain, and the hot days of Central Texas summers made the concrete structure unbearable for people to visit. By 1984, few pedestrians walked the closed-off streets, and even fewer made purchases. The perception of downtown business in Waco was so poor that a Waco Tribune-Herald article sarcastically noted that the debate about reopening Austin Avenue to traffic drew more attention to the mall and downtown Waco than it had received in years, and that the “pigeons have had no trouble keeping the right-of-way.”

In a nation where city planners attempted to renew the modern landscape, the Austin Avenue Mall was not the only pedestrian mall to fail. City planners throughout the country wanted all centers of government, businesses, and social life to be located in a single strong operating area. They believed the pedestrian malls would attract customers to downtown, and these customers would then make use of other services in the area while visiting retailers. The planners failed to realize that the automobile was changing the way people commuted, shopped, and went about most daily routines. Citizens were able to move farther away from city centers, and many retailers themselves moved to the suburbs as well. The late 1960s and 70s saw numerous new strip malls and businesses relocate to the residential neighborhoods across Waco and across the nation. The Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall fell victim to this poor climate for downtown city life. Though city officials hoped the mall would reinvigorate downtown, it merely sped its decline. Only the most resilient merchants remained downtown following the reopening of Austin Avenue to traffic. Today, Waco’s city planners strive to revive downtown life, especially along Austin Avenue, through the preservation of historic buildings, bringing in more merchants and businesses, and bringing back the traditional pedestrian experience of downtown.

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After the Amicable Life Insurance Company opened for business on April 2, 1910, the owners began searching for a location to house their new business. The owners of First National Bank, located at Fifth Street and Austin Avenue, also served as members of the board of trustees for the Amicable Life Insurance Company (ALICO). The bank owners decided to sell their lot to ALICO, and in 1910, the insurance company demolished the old bank to break ground for the new building.

Construction began in August of 1910 on what was originally planned to be an eight-story building. Yet when the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas planned a taller building, ALICO increased the number of floors to seventeen. The hotel also increased its planned height, and ALICO ultimately decided to construct a twenty-two-story building. Construction finished exactly one year later in August of 1911. The Amicable building stood out from other buildings in the South in many ways. Though most buildings at this time were composed of concrete or masonry, the Amicable building boasted a steel frame. Also, the elevator system within was quite advanced for the time. In addition to these modern innovations, the ALICO building stood as the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixon line until 1929.

The building itself stands for the strength and stability of the Waco community and of downtown. While many businesses have come and gone throughout the history of downtown Waco, the ALICO building has stood strong since its creation in 1910. It weathered everything in Waco, from the Waco tornado of 1953 to urban renewal. The architects, Sanguinet and Staats of Fort Worth and Roy E. Lane of Waco, wanted to design a building that could survive any major catastrophe. They designed the building with a steel frame that could resist a hurricane-force wind. The bottom half of the outer façade was composed of granite and other stone, while the top was made of brick and terra cotta. It was designed to be sturdy but to have a look that was classic and appealing to the eye.

The first few floors of the building housed the First National Bank. The fourth floor through the twentieth all contained the same floor plan for office spaces, while floors above the twentieth consisted mostly of storage space. The Amicable building became the center of downtown, making its office space highly desirable and the shopping center immensely popular. People came to the Amicable building not only to shop but often just to marvel at the building itself. Until the mid-1940s, the ALICO building was bustling and full of offices that were not necessarily ALICO offices. For instance, radio station WACO was founded on the eighth floor of the building. This changed when the Amicable Life Insurance Company rapidly grew and needed to start buying back some of the offices because of their growing need for space.

The ALICO building has not only served as office space, however. The tower became Waco's crisis center following the 1953 tornado that struck the surrounding downtown area and claimed 114 lives. The building suffered only superficial damage and, having been built with its own generator, was the only major downtown structure with electricity. Medical and military officials coordinated search parties and rescue efforts from the First National Bank on the ground floor.

In 1982, the Texas State Historical Commission designated the ALICO building a historical landmark. The state uses this program to commemorate and preserve sites that have impacted state history. The first of its kind in the Southwest, the ALICO building became the focal point of activity in Waco for generations. Today, the ALICO building still towers above the Waco skyline, holding the offices of the now American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas, as well as providing office space for other businesses located in downtown Waco.

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