One of the most beautiful buildings on Baylor University’s campus is the Armstrong Browning Library & Museum. Sources such as Campus Grotto and Flavorwire have named the library to their lists of the fifty most beautiful libraries in the United States and in the world, respectively. The three-story Italian renaissance style building houses the world’s largest collection of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning material. Collected by Dr. Andrew Joseph Armstrong throughout his life, the artifacts have resided in the Armstrong Browning Library since its opening in 1951.

Born in 1873 in Louisville, Kentucky, A.J. Armstrong grew up wanting to be a college professor. He lost his father when he was fourteen, so when his mother fell ill a few years later, he delayed his college education to care for her. She died when he was twenty-six, and he began his studies at Wabash College. After he graduated in 1902, he accepted a position teaching English at East Texas Baptist Institute, where he met his future wife, fellow English teacher Mary Maxwell. Armstrong went on to earn his doctorate from University of Pennsylvania in 1908. That same year he accepted an interim teaching position at Baylor University. After three years teaching at Georgetown College, he returned to Baylor as the chair of the English department.

Dr. Armstrong possessed an interest in Robert Browning from an early age. Browning and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, were two of the greatest of the English Victorian poets. A master of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture, Browning was a prolific poet, writing hundreds of poems and eight plays in verse.

Around 1905, Armstrong began to collect Browning's writings. His interest grew greatly upon his meeting the Brownings’ only son, Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning, called Pen, on a visit to Italy in 1909, and he resolved to collect every artifact he could. When Pen died in 1912 without a will, Sotheby’s auction house in London sold off the Browning estate. Armstrong was able to acquire a copy of the sale catalogue, including sale prices and purchasers, from a Sotheby staff member named E.H. Courville. From this starting point, Armstrong began to track down the Browning effects to bolster his fast-growing collection of Browning writings and relics.

Armstrong donated his collection of Browning materials to Baylor in 1918. Throughout his life, he continued to track down Browning artifacts, funding his passion with donations, gifts, and profits from events he hosted on campus. Many of these events were live readings, concerts, or dramatizations, featuring poets, musicians, actors, politicians, and scholars such as Robert Frost, Basil Rathbone, W.B. Yeats, Vachel Lindsay, William Taft, and Katharine Cornell. The university kept the Browning materials in Carroll Library, and designated a Browning Room to house the collection after the 1924 building renovation.

The collection grew quickly, and in 1943 Baylor President Pat Neff provided $100,000 to begin work on a new library to house the artifacts. Dr. Armstrong took upon himself the task of raising the remaining money. With the aid of his wife, Mary, he began an enormous fundraising campaign, writing to alumni, colleagues, politicians, and celebrities for whatever donation they could spare. Each letter he wrote was personal, and each gift was recognized with a thank you note. According to Dr. Armstrong, one person out of every four asked provided a donation. Several local and campus groups with which Dr. Armstrong was involved sponsored specific features of the building. For example, Dr. Armstrong’s Literature Survey class funded the front stairs, and the Tuesday Club of Brady, Texas and Mr. & Mrs. John Leddy-Jones of Dallas donated the Pippa statue on the front lawn.

Five years later, having obtained the $1.75 million dollars necessary for the construction of the building, the university held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Armstrong Browning Library. In 1950, about halfway through the building’s construction, a second ceremony was held for supporters to place keepsakes such as pictures, books, and papers in the library’s cornerstone along with a list of the 5,117 individuals that contributed to the Browning fund. Finally, in December of 1951, the library officially opened to the public. By now, Dr. Armstrong’s collection was the biggest collection of Browningiana in the world.

The library stands three floors high. Its majestic Italian Renaissance architecture serves as a stunning backdrop for the thousands of artifacts housed within its walls. The Armstrong Browning stained glass collection is the largest collection of secular stained glass in the world, featuring sixty-two stained glass windows depicting the lives and poetry of the Brownings. The ground floor of the library underwent renovation in 1995. Until then, the first floor held offices and classrooms for the English department, while the second and third displayed the various Browning materials. The ground floor now houses the Cox Reception Hall, the ABL Gift Gallery, the Mary Armstrong Seminar Room, the Lewis-Birkhead Lecture Hall, and climate-controlled book stacks. The second floor holds the Martin Entrance Foyer, the Hankamer Treasure Room, the John Leddy-Jones Research Hall, the McLean Foyer of Meditation, and the Cloister of the Clasped Hands, which holds a bronze cast of the hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barett Browning done by artist Harriet Hosmer. The stairwell joining the three floors holds a collection of paintings by Pen Browning. The third floor boasts the Austin Moore-Elizabeth Barrett Browning Salon and the Belew Scholars’ Room (originally Dr. Armstrong’s personal classroom) as well as a balcony overlooking the Foyer of Meditation. Spaces found outside the building include the Garden of Contentment, added in 2012, and an amphitheater.

The Armstrong Browning Library & Museum is a testament to how the tireless effort of one person can accomplish a lofty goal. The library continues to inspire students, scholars, poets, and tourists with its beauty and resources.

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One of the most popular places to visit on Baylor University’s campus is the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat, home to Baylor’s live bear mascot. The first habitat was built in 1945, but through the years the desire to increase the quality of life for the bears drove the university to rebuild the habitat again and again, until it became the haven it is today.

Baylor has had a live bear mascot since 1917. The first live bear mascot, Ted, often called “Bruin,” belonged to a nearby Camp MacArthur soldier, who let students parade the bear across the football field during a game and then left the bear to the students when he was deployed overseas. Ted served as Baylor’s mascot until the early 1920s. As there was no habitat at this time, Ted was kept at the Texas Cotton Palace’s small zoo. The bears following Ted would sometimes live off campus but were for the most part kept on university grounds, usually in a pen along Waco Creek. In 1932, Baylor student Bill Boyd acquired a bear named Joe College from the Cotton Palace, which was closing. Joe had been a show bear, and his friendliness and personality quickly made him a favorite of Baylor students. Boyd kept the bear in his backyard until Joe grew to weigh 500 pounds and could no longer be safely housed at his residence. At this point, the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce volunteered to build him a home on campus. Joe College was retired in 1940, and Chamber officially assumed care of his successor, Little Joe.

In 1945, Chamber raised the funds and built Baylor’s first real bear habitat. Located (as it is today) on the banks of Waco Creek, the habitat was known as the “Bear Pit.” It featured a swimming pool and space for the bears to climb or walk around, surrounded by a barrier originally made of iron bed headboards. The Bear Pit underwent renovations in 1949, 1953, and 1969. Chamber also added a trailer in 1953 which transported the bears to and from football games, when previously the bears had been transported in a car or train. The bears frequently tested the strength and security of the Bear Pit with their repeated and often successful escape attempts. The Pit was the home of Baylor’s bears until 1977. At this point, the university decided to demolish it and build the Steve Hudson Memorial Bear Plaza in its place. The Steve Hudson Memorial Bear Plaza was built into the sloping bank of Waco Creek, with an open area where the bears could exercise at creek level and pens and viewing decks at ground level. It was three times the size of its predecessor and included a waterfall and AstroTurf. The Plaza held a Class-C zoo license from the United States Department of Agriculture and was approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to hold up to three bears.

In 1999, Chamber began pushing the university to update the habitat again, and in 2003 the university finally began the process. Chamber members worked with administrators from Cameron Park Zoo to develop the plans for the bears’ new home. The new habitat opened in 2005, and university administration named it the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat Complex after the project’s lead donors. This complex, which still houses the university mascots, is Baylor’s most sophisticated habitat yet. The environment resembles the bears’ natural environment and includes many new features designed for the enrichment and care of the bears. Another major change to the enclosure was the elevation, as the whole complex was raised to ground level. Viewing areas encircle about half of the outside border, allowing visitors to easily observe the bears’ behavior, and placards provide information about both the history of Baylor’s bears and about black bears in general.

The Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat is the safest place on campus and could withstand winds from a category five hurricane, according to the Robert Reid Director of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce, Dakota Farquhar-Caddell. The habitat received accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in 2021. It is the only university mascot facility to achieve this designation and one of only two AZA accredited zoos on a college campus. Finally, the university added a Community Education Pavilion to the complex in 2022, promoting community engagement and education about the bears.

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Elvis Presley is a name that hardly needs explanation. The king of rock-and roll stands as a cultural icon to this day, but few people know of his connection to Waco and Central Texas. In 1958, at the ripe age of twenty-two, Elvis joined the United States Army and moved to Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, for basic training.

Elvis had been to Waco before, doing what he knew best—performing. In 1956 he graced the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum and performed in front of a full house. But when he came back two years later, his calling was much different. Though Elvis had been part of the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) at Humes High School in Memphis, he could have easily avoided combat military service when the time came. Having already achieved a good level of fame with his hits “All Shook Up,” “Hound Dog,” and others, Elvis could have been excused from military service or served in a non-combat role. But his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, thought that serving in the army infantry would boost Elvis’s career and paint him as a true American, not just as a hip-gyrating, rock-and-roll youth. Elvis, being the humble man that he was, agreed and was assigned to a tank division at Fort Hood.

Luckily, when Elvis arrived at Fort Hood, he already had a friend close by. In the early 1950s, when Elvis was just trying to break into the music world, he met a Dallas radio DJ named Eddie Fadal. In 1956, Eddie lived in Waco and went to Elvis’s show at the Coliseum to see if the star remembered him. After navigating around a crowd of fans and convincing Elvis’s bodyguards to tell Elvis a man named Eddie Fadal had come to see him, Elvis welcomed him with open arms. Eddie offered to have Elvis over after the show for a midnight snack, and he took him up on the offer. Elvis and the band rolled up to Eddie’s house—located at 2807 Lasker Avenue—late that night with their instruments strapped to the roof of their car, and a surprised Mrs. LaNelle Fadal scrambled to serve the boys a delicious meal. Little did the Fadals know, that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Though a willing soldier, Elvis disliked life at Fort Hood, maybe because he could never be just one of the guys. For that reason, he left the base whenever he could and drove to Waco to spend time with Eddie and his family. The Fadals’ home quickly became his home away from home, and they began to expect Elvis every weekend. They even built a den and stocked it with records and music equipment for Elvis to enjoy during his stays. The den was of course painted pink and black, Elvis’s favorite colors. He usually stayed up late into the night listening to music and would sleep most of the day, truly relaxed around the Fadal family.

Soon enough Elvis also decided to rent a home in Killeen for his parents to stay in while he was in Texas, so Vernon and Gladys Presley became regulars at the Fadals’ as well, along with Elvis’s girlfriend Anita Wood. Gladys even taught LaNelle how to cook Elvis’s favorite foods, including burnt bacon, purple-hull peas, and sliced tomatoes. Eddie would also pick up cream pies for Elvis from the Hickory Stick or Toddle House, and Elvis would claim a whole pie for himself in one evening.

But Elvis’s presence did not go unnoticed around town. Word sometimes spread quickly if a neighbor caught a glimpse of a black Cadillac pulling up to the Fadals’ home. Kids would come from all over town demanding to see Elvis, sometimes even climbing the roof and threatening to break in. Other times people would camp out on the lawn and refuse to leave or threaten violence until they got to see the young Presley. Elvis did not want to cause his friends any trouble, so he would go out and talk to crowds of people and spend time with them until they were satisfied and left of their own accord. Eddie quickly had to unlist the family’s phone number.

Yet Elvis’s courteous response to these crowds did not mean he welcomed them. He was by nature a shy, simple man who just wanted to spend time with his true friends. He always sought to fly under the radar and spend quality, private time at the Fadals’. He would not even allow Eddie to have any family over during his visits. In fact, Elvis hated the idea of surprise visitors so much that when he arrived at the Fadals’ he would take a quick lap around the entire house to make sure no one was hiding and waiting to see him. It became his ritual, after entering through the back door. This behavior stemmed from Elvis’s fame, but also his constant fear that his friends might be using him for his status. In fact, the only family member of Eddie’s that Elvis liked was his brother Louis, because Louis had ignored Elvis the first time they were in the house together, passing him by to go speak with his brother. This fear of being used was strong in Elvis, but Eddie proved himself a true friend and a father figure to the young star.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck while Elvis was at Fort Hood. Gladys Presley went back to Memphis for medical treatment, and Elvis received a call that things were not looking good for his mother, from whom he was inseparable. When Gladys passed away on August 14, 1958, Elvis was crushed. After being granted a month of leave from the army, he and Eddie spent time in Memphis grieving. For the rest of his life Elvis would often sing gospel songs in the quieter moments and remember his mother.

Elvis returned to Waco and shipped off to Germany soon after. He cried the night he shipped out, as he would not only miss his friends and family, but he feared his fans would forget him while he was gone. Of course, that did not happen. But regardless, Elvis’s time in Waco had come to an end. Eddie remained his faithful friend, even when they went their separate ways in the coming years. The Fadals still refer to those months in 1958 as the “Elvis days,” and tell even more stories of their time with him.

Eddie’s son Dana still owns the house where Elvis stayed, and his sister Janice manages the property. It can be rented on Airbnb, so Elvis fans from near and far can come experience the home. They decorated the home in mid-century style reminiscent of the 1950s and recreated the pink and black den Elvis spent so much time in. Janice has also put together a book of her father's writings about those times called "Elvis Days." To order a copy of the book or see photos of the house, check out the website theelvishouse.com. Since many remnants of 1950s Waco that Elvis enjoyed have closed down, the house remains one of the last testaments to Elvis in Central Texas.

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Positioned on what used to be the only highway through town, Magnolia Table now draws in patrons from around the country and the globe. Though a new restaurant itself, the Table resides in a building with a rich history that has welcomed hungry visitors for decades. The unique Spanish-style structure used to be home to a local staple, the Elite Café. Originally started in 1919 by the Colias brothers in downtown Waco, the second location on the traffic circle opened in 1941. After the 1953 tornado decimated downtown, the brothers decided to cut their losses and only continue with the traffic circle location. Through changes of ownership and multiple remodels during the next five decades, the Elite remained a favorite, sentimental spot for many.

Chip and Joanna Gaines came onto the scene after the Elite Café closed its doors in 2016. The café had fallen on hard times, and many were sad to see it go. Yet the Gaines had other plans: they quickly bought the property and started designing a restaurant of their own. First, the couple decided to auction off all the original Elite contents to benefit Mission Waco and help build a grocery store in a local food-insecure neighborhood. Then, they made minimal renovations to the restaurant, as the building is a historic landmark. Now a blend of history and Joanna’s unique style, Magnolia Table still includes some special touches to honor the Elite Café. For example, the coffee corner in the restaurant holds an Elite mural, and the menu has a “1919” sandwich giving nod to a sandwich on the original Elite menu. You can see the complete transformation on season five of Fixer Upper. Though there was some initial controversy between the Gaines and the local historic commission about changing the name, most people were relieved that the building would still feed the hungry travelers of Texas highways.

The menu itself is true to the Gaines farmhouse style, with many entrees featuring produce from their own personal garden. With the recipes designed by the Gaines themselves, Chip, a self-named “breakfast connoisseur,” is proud of the restaurant and the attempts to keep things local. Though breakfast is the specialty, the Gaines did not limit the menu, and lunch entrees are served as well. Reportedly, the first customers were their four kids (before the birth of Crew), but they were certainly not the last, as patrons today often wait a few hours for a table. To broaden the experience for those who do not want to wait, the Gaines have also opened a take-away section inside the restaurant and a Magnolia Table food truck at the Silos.

Chip and Joanna have helped preserve a historic landmark of Central Texas, and the Gaines will surely continue to further impact the Waco community in years to come.

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A decade ago no one dreamed that two abandoned cottonseed silos would become the icon of a burgeoning retail empire—yet that is exactly what happened. After the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Mill closed in 1958 and the silos ceased to serve as storage in the 1990s, they became little more than a challenge for trespassing youth to climb for over a decade. Though some students still bemoan the fact that they missed their chance to scale the old rusty edifices, the Waco community has undoubtedly benefited from the newfound fame of Magnolia Market at the Silos.

Just like any booming business, Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Market blossomed from humbler roots. The retail giant began in Spice Village, a local Waco shopping spot that houses over sixty boutique stalls under one roof in downtown. But Joanna Gaines quickly needed more room to develop her brand, so she and Chip bought the “Little Shop on Bosque” in 2003 that served as their first stand-alone retail store. The shop also happened to be one of their first “fixer-upper” projects, as they transformed the small, rundown building into an attractive home décor destination.

But the Little Shop on Bosque was only the beginning. In 2013 the couple took on a whole new challenge: television. Chip and Joanna took their Magnolia Homes brand and brought it to HGTV—a popular home improvement network. On the show, the Gaines bought run-down homes in the Waco area and turned them into manifestations of Joanna’s farmhouse chic style. The new TV show, Fixer Upper, exploded in popularity, turning more attention than ever on Waco and their small retail shop.

With Fixer Upper came worldwide acclaim, and with worldwide acclaim came tourists. Thrust into the modern tourism scene, Waco had some catching up to do, and so did the Gaines. Within a year, Chip and Joanna procured what would become the symbol of the brand, the Silos, and surrounding real estate. True to the nature of the TV show, these old silos needed immense renovation and the Joanna Gaines touch before they could welcome visitors. The Gaines quickly turned the neighboring building into the retail store, built a stage in front of the silos and a small building for the Magnolia Seed & Supply Garden Store, and drew up plans to convert the other adjacent building into a bakery. After turning these buildings around, in addition to copious landscaping and gathering of food trucks, the Silos were ready to go.

Even with the launch of the store and food truck park in 2015, it was not until the Silos Baking Company moved into the last empty building in June 2016 that the Silos felt complete. Joanna had spent a great deal of time crafting recipes for her baked goods, and they were ready to be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Already known for its crowds, the Silos now also had a bakery line stretching around the corner each day.

In all, the Gaines not only transformed an old Waco landmark, they helped transform the city, as evidenced by a growing downtown, expanded restaurant scene, and even tour buses seen around town daily. Though Fixer Upper stopped filming in 2018, the droves of tourists have yet to abate. But with a new Magnolia line at Target and a construction company that continues on without the cameras, the Gaines are not really slowing down. Whether it is for the home décor, the food trucks, or the cupcakes, during their time in Waco thousands of travelers go and rest in the shade of the Silos and soak up the atmosphere the Gaines crafted. It is no overstatement to say Magnolia Market at the Silos is and will continue to be an important addition to Waco history.

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Nestled behind several fast food chains at Fifteenth Street and Speight Avenue, Cupp’s Drive-Inn has been offering diner favorites to local residents and Baylor students and staff for seventy years and counting. The small diner offers a window into the past, as the layout of the restaurant—with just four booths and eight old-fashioned barstools facing the flat-top grill—has remained virtually unchanged since its founding. The awning on the side of the building once sheltered carhops who took customers’ orders as they passed through for a quick meal.

The location has a long history of being in the restaurant business. In the mid-1920s W. R. Bosley operated a restaurant there, followed briefly by the Tourist Sandwich Shop, which moved to 1426 Speight in 1930. For a time, the location was strictly a residence until 1940-41, when Robert P. and Clara Heaton opened Heaton’s Eatins, which served customers at that location until 1946. Price’s Hamburger Stand opened shortly after for a year before the location was purchased by longtime Waco resident Charlie Leroy Cupp and his wife, Bessie. It was briefly called Cupp’s Place before becoming Cupp’s Drive-Inn.

Before entering the burger business in 1947, Charlie Cupp had previously worked for Geyser Ice Company as a delivery truck operator, and in 1946, he briefly managed Coffee Cup, a restaurant at 1514 Speight Avenue. As business picked up at Cupp’s Drive-Inn, waitress Flo Owen came onto the staff, soon followed by Betty Johnson and Pat Walker.

In addition to indoor dining, Cupp’s Drive-Inn also offered car service to patrons. Elvis Presley, then a young soldier training at Fort Hood, often frequented Cupp’s Drive-Inn in the back seat of family friend Eddie Fadal’s Cadillac, ordering double cheeseburgers with bacon. Elvis regularly retreated on weekends and days off to Waco during the sixth months of his army training in 1959. Fadal, a former DJ who met Elvis on one of his earliest tours to Texas, built an addition onto his house to accommodate his friend whenever he visited Waco. Willie Nelson, from nearby Abbot, has also been known to eat at Cupp’s since it first opened its doors.

In the 1970s, the Cupp family passed on the business to longtime waitress Flo Owen, who would later go on to open another restaurant in Hewitt. In the late eighties, Owen approached Betty Johnson—who had worked for both the Cupp family and Owen—about taking over the restaurant. At first hesitant, Johnson agreed and together with her husband managed Cupp’s Drive-Inn from 1988 until retiring in 2010. The Johnsons children, Freddie Johnson Jr. and Sherry Caughenbaugh, then took over management and presently own the restaurant, serving breakfast and lunch.

In the late nineties, the carhop feature was phased out with changing times. Trays would no longer sit straight on windows with the style of modern cars, and the service was not used frequently regardless. Because of this, focus shifted to strictly inside. Today, along with indoor seating, a picnic area outdoors serves as additional space for patrons.

Cupp’s prides itself on its fresh ingredients, all sourced in Texas. They prepare their own meat for their well-known thin patties, using the same recipe from their 1947 founding. French fries and onion rings are still hand cut and fried to order. Their simple, no- frills menu options, classic diner atmosphere, and longstanding legacy in Waco have been keeping customers coming back—many since the fifties and sixties. Today, many of those customers now bring their children and grandchildren when they dine at Cupp’s Drive-Inn.

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For most of their history, the Davidians and later the Branch Davidians had lived in isolation from the Waco community. As a city with deep religious roots, Branch Davidians were generally accepted and allowed to practice their religious beliefs without interference. The group had garnered some attention from local media in 1987 due to a shootout at the new Mount Carmel Center. But five years later, the Branch Davidians were thrust into the national spotlight.

Vernon Howell, who changed his name to David Koresh in 1990, had assumed leadership of the Branch Davidians and increasingly incorporated radical ideas into his messages. He claimed that God instructed him to build an Army of God to prepare for the end of days, and encouraged the stockpile of ammunition and weapons. Koresh also stated he was told by God to procreate with the women in the group to establish a “House of David,” and to this end took several wives. While never directly claiming to be Jesus himself, Koresh had proclaimed that he was the final prophet.

On a routine delivery to the compound in 1992, local UPS representative Larry Gilbreath discovered firearms, inert grenade casings, and black powder in a broken package. Gilbreath contacted authorities, and in May, Chief Deputy Daniel Weyenberg of the McLennan County Sheriff’s Department contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). A formal investigation was launched in June that year, and the ATF began surveillance from a house across the road from Mount Carmel Center. In addition to allegations that Koresh and his followers were stockpiling illegal weapons, Koresh was also accused of sexual abuse. On February 27, 1993, the Waco-Tribune Herald began publishing “The Sinful Messiah” series, which alleged that Koresh had physically abused children at Mount Carmel and had committed statutory rape by taking several underage women as brides.

The ATF obtained search and arrest warrants for Koresh and other followers on weapons charges, noting the many firearms the group had accumulated. The ATF originally planned their raid of Mount Carmel for Monday, March 1, 1993, using the code name “Showtime.” The date was changed to February 28 in response to the Waco Tribune-Herald’s series on Koresh, which the ATF had tried to prevent from being published. Any advantage of surprise was lost early that morning when a KWTX-TV reporter, who had been tipped off about the raid, asked a mail carrier for directions, who was actually Koresh’s brother-in-law. The ATF commander ordered the raid move forward, despite being informed that the Branch Davidians were aware that ATF agents were coming. At 9:45 a.m., a gun battle began. ATF agents stated they heard shots coming from within the compound, while Branch Davidian survivors claimed the first shots came from ATF agents outside. By the time a ceasefire was announced at 11:30 a.m., four ATF agents had been killed, and another sixteen had been wounded. Five branch Davidians were killed, and later that day, a sixth was killed by ATF agents. That evening, four children were permitted to leave Mount Carmel, and Koresh, who had been wounded, was interviewed by CNN and spoke to KRLD in Dallas.

For the next forty-nine days, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team worked to negotiate a peaceful end to the siege. In the first few days, a supposed breakthrough was made when Koresh agreed that the Branch Davidians would leave the compound in return for a message, recorded by Koresh, being broadcast on national radio. But Koresh told negotiators that God had instructed him to remain in the building and wait. Despite this, nineteen children were released. As time passed, the FBI used increasingly aggressive techniques, such as sleep deprivation by means of all-night broadcasts and recordings of loud noises and pop music, to try to force all the Branch Davidians out. Koresh later forced a group of eleven followers to leave, and they were arrested as material witnesses, with one person charged with conspiracy to murder.

On April 19, US Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations by the FBI to mount an assault. Explosives were used to puncture holes in the walls of the buildings of the main compound so tear gas could be pumped in, in hopes of flushing the Branch Davidians out without harming them. Around noon, three fires broke out in different parts of the building and spread quickly. While the government maintains that the fires were started deliberately by Branch Davidians, others, including some Branch Davidian survivors, believe that the fires were started either accidentally or deliberately by the FBI. Only nine people left the building during the fire. The remaining seventy-six Branch Davidians, including children, were killed either by rubble, suffocation from the effects of the fire, or shot. Footage of the blaze was broadcast live by television crews, who had remained near the compound throughout the siege.

Extensive investigations took place following the siege, and the events that transpired in Waco transformed the way federal officials conducted future operational tactics. Four months after the fire, a federal grand jury indicted twelve of the surviving Branch Davidians for aiding and abetting the murder of federal officers, along with the unlawful possession of firearms. Four members were acquitted, and the remaining eight were convicted, but only for firearms-related offenses. By 2007, all members had been released from prison. Nothing remains of the original compound, but a new Branch Davidian community now exists on the property called Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness.

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Often confused with the Davidians, the Branch Davidians are a splinter group organized in 1955 by Ben Roden following the death of Davidian founder Victor T. Houteff. Houteff had founded the Davidians, a small Adventist reform movement, in 1929. Six years later, Houteff and thirty-seven of his followers resettled two miles from Waco, where they established the Mount Carmel Center. The community flourished there, growing to around ninety people by 1955. Houteff had complete authority, viewed by his followers as the only person who could reveal Biblical secrets about the end of time. Among his teachings, Houteff stated that he would not die, but would lead his people to old Jerusalem and therefore to the heavenly Canaan. Because of this, Houteff’s sudden death at Hillcrest Hospital, caused by heart failure, came as a huge shock to the Davidians. The loss of their leader led to instability within church organization leadership, along with the formation of several splinter groups.

Prior to his passing, Houteff had appointed his second wife, Florence Houteff, to lead the Davidians until the Lord chose another prophet to take charge. Under her leadership, the community sold their property near Lake Waco for residential development and resettled in 1957. They resettled on a 941-acre farm located nine miles east of Waco near Elk, which they called New Mount Carmel. Florence Houteff and the other leaders predicted the imminent establishment of God’s Kingdom on April 22, 1959. They called on members to gather at New Mount Carmel before that date, which coincided with Passover. About nine hundred gathered, but when signs did not appear, the Davidians began to disperse quickly.

While this gathering took place, Benjamin Roden, a former Seventh-day Adventist who had accepted the teachings of The Shepherd’s Rod in 1946, announced that he was the sign the Davidians were seeking. The failure of the prophecy discredited Florence Houteff, and a small following looked to Roden as their new prophet. Roden’s Branch Davidians claimed the New Mount Carmel property, which was now seventy-seven acres. Roden centered his teachings on the significance of the restored state of Israel, which would be a sign of preparation for Christ’s return to earth. Roden traveled to Israel and established a small community of followers there prior to his death in 1978.

Lois Roden assumed leadership of the Branch Davidians following her husband’s death. Her teachers centered on the female nature of the Holy Spirit and the co-dominion of women and men in the church. This corresponded with ideas circulating from the Feminist Movement in the 1970s and the growing egalitarian teachings of many Adventist sects. Beginning in 1979, Roden began publishing Shekinah, a short-lived journal on women’s place in religion. She also often spoke to media outlets about the femininity of the Holy Spirit, hoping to spread her teachings to a wider audience.

 Throughout Lois Roden’s leadership, her son George Roden claimed to be the next heir apparent of the Branch Davidians. However, he was not widely respected within the community, and his own mother did not support his claim. She had aligned herself with Vernon Howell, a young, charismatic Bible teacher who had first arrived at Mount Carmel in 1981. After briefly leaving, he had returned in the mid-1980s and gained support and a growing following among the Branch Davidians. Despite this, George Roden was able to gain control of Mount Carmel in 1985, expelling Howell’s rival faction at gunpoint. Howell and his followers resettled in Palestine, Texas, but returned to Mount Carmel two years later to gain control of the Mount Carmel property. Eight men, including Howell, exchanged gunfire with Roden on November 3, 1987, before being arrested and charged with attempted murder. Howell’s followers were all acquitted, and Howell’s case was declared a mistrial. Because Roden owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on Mount Carmel, Howell and his followers were able to raise the funds and reclaim the property.

Howell perpetuated many distinct Davidian traditions, including an authoritarian leader, communal life separate from society, and the anticipation of the imminent end of the world. In 1990, he changed his name to David Koresh, signifying his messianic role in carrying out a divinely commissioned task of defeating the enemies of God. While previous leaders of the Davidians, such as Houteff, had been pacifists, Koresh began stockpiling weapons and ammunition to defend the faithful. Authorities suspected the Branch Davidians possessed illegal firearms, and on February 28, 1993, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms raided the compound, beginning the fifty-one day Branch Davidian Siege.

Today, both Davidians and Branch Davidians exist in scattered communities in the United States and around the world. A small group of Branch Davidians live and worship at Mount Carmel today, called The Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness. This group claims David Koresh twisted Biblical teachings, but other Branch Davidians—some also living at Mount Carmel—still align themselves with Koresh and his version of the Branch Davidian faith.

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During the 1960s and 70s, the Vietnam War rocked American communities from coast to coast, leaving death and division in its wake. McLennan County was no exception. The Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands on the banks of the Brazos River as a silent but powerful testimony of the war’s impact on both the Waco community and the nation at large.

While Waco’s memorial did not become a reality until several decades after the war’s end, its origin rests in the wartime experience of local veteran Manuel Sustaita. Sustaita joined the U.S. Marine Corp in 1963 at seventeen years of age. As part of the Delta Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Sustaita was among the first marines to see combat in the conflict. This experience in Vietnam, including the death of his closest friend, Lance Corporal Joseph Ray Wynn Jr., left a deep impression on the young Marine. The idea of a Waco veterans memorial first emerged on Sustaita’s 1985 visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC, during which he was overcome by the visual magnitude of the war’s destruction. Writing several years later about his visit to the national memorial, Sustaita recalled, “I thought it would only take a few minutes to look up my [friends’] names…[but] I was wrong. Just to recover from the emotion and…the task of trying to find the name on that massive piece of stone was unreal.”

Sustaita wanted Wacoans to be able to share in a similar memorial experience, even if they were unable to travel to the nation’s capital. In 1989, Sustaita founded the Waco Citizens for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Inc., where fellow Wacoans Guy Cox and John Householder joined him as board members. This advisory board—comprised of veterans, Gold Star mothers, and local professionals—began the “Adopt in Memory Of” effort, in which individuals and religious, educational, business, and civic organizations could commit to raise $1,000 for the memorial in memory of a deceased casualty. A design for the memorial was settled on in 1989. The structure would consist of three pavilions total, symbolizing the experience of the country before, during, and after the war.

All of these preparations culminated in the site’s groundbreaking on Memorial Day 1990. Due to setbacks the memorial was not officially dedicated until 2004. The first pavilion of the memorial reads “Before the Vietnam War, We Were Whole.” The second reads, “The Vietnam War Brought Destruction and Turmoil.” On the third and final pavilion is inscribed, “The Sacrifices of Those We Honor Make This Hallowed Ground—Let us Strive to Reunite and Heal.” Under the third pavilion stands a monument into which the names of the fallen are etched. One linear wall also contains five bronze seals of the five branches of military service. The memorial includes a quote from Patrick Henry, which reads, “The battle is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”

A ten-year anniversary event was held in 2014, at which time nine names were added to the monument. Including the seven names added in February of 2018, the total now stands at eighty-three. Situated along the city’s revitalized river trail, the Waco Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands not only as a reminder of a sobering chapter in local and national history, but of the participants in that history whose voices are now silent.

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For over 100 years, Vitek's Grocery and, now, BBQ restaurant, has remained a cherished business in the Waco area, providing residents with quality meats and a community gathering place.

The story of Vitek's BBQ began in 1915, when butcher William Martin Vitek, the son of Czechoslovakian immigrants, opened a grocery store and meat market in Granger, Texas. From the very outset, Vitek was always willing to accommodate special requests and deliveries, establishing a customer-first ethos that would define the Vitek family business for the next century. Shortly after opening the new business, William and his wife, Hattie, moved sixty miles north to Waco, eventually setting up shop at 1715 Speight Avenue. The fledgling venture changed locations several times during its first decade as it weathered both the Great Depression and the death of its original owner. Vitek's entered a new phase, however, when William Martin's son, William "Willie" Frank Vitek, took over following his father's passing.

As the small town of Waco grew and developed over the next several years, so did Vitek's Grocery. In addition to running the business, Willie also built Vitek's current location at 1600 Speight Avenue in 1958, the same year that construction of Interstate 35 began in Waco. While many businesses were unable to survive the disruption of highway construction, the creativity of Willie and his son, Billy Joe Vitek, helped the business to stay afloat. Willie began to cook barbecue on a portable pit, serving barbecue sandwiches and homemade sausage to customers. Vitek's takeout service was thus born, making the shop's premium barbecue more accessible than ever.

The building of I-35, however, was not the only challenge that Vitek's met. During this time, many smaller family stores were driven out of business by larger chains that could offer a greater variety of goods at lower prices. The number of small grocers and butcher shops dramatically decreased in the second half of the twentieth century as towns expanded into suburbs and cars became more ubiquitous. Luckily, the decline of small family grocers in the United States roughly paralleled the rise of quick-service restaurants—a shift that the Vitek family was poised to take advantage of. Billy Joe and his wife, Susan, took over the business in 1972, officially changing the name from Vitek's Grocery to Vitek's BBQ. While the original restaurant contained only one picnic table and operated off of a takeout-only business model, it rapidly evolved into the quick-service restaurant that remains a local staple today.

Vitek's identity as a Waco icon was cemented when, in the early 1980s, Billy Joe and a Baylor student employee concocted the now-famous Gut Pack, which later went on to be recognized in such publications as The American Way, The New York Times, and Texas Monthly. Thanks to the advent of the Gut Pack and the restaurant's status as a cherished Waco eatery, Vitek's was named one of the "Best College Eats" by the Cooking Channel and has received praise from the likes of ESPN and the Travel Channel.

In 2006, Billy Joe and Susan retired, leaving the restaurant to their daughter, Julie Vitek Keith, a fourth-generation owner of the establishment. In 2007, Julie and her husband, Jason, expanded the dining area and added an outdoor biergarten well-suited to live entertainment. While the Waco of today presents a marked contrast to that of the restaurant's early days, Vitek’s is proof that innovation, customer service, and delicious barbecue have indeed remained constant.

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What began as a small collection of native animals in the 1950s grew into the Cameron Park Zoo Wacoans know today. Cameron Park Zoo rests on fifty-two acres of land near the Brazos River, and is a popular stop for local families, school groups, and travelers making their way to Austin or Dallas on Interstate 35.

Originally organized by local wildlife enthusiasts, the collection of animals came together for the purpose of education and with the goal to showcase real, live animals to the public of Central Texas. In 1955, wildlife volunteers displayed mammals and reptiles at the Heart O’ Texas Fair. The small exhibit attracted donations from the visitors who supported the formation of a zoo. After the fair, the animals moved to a pet shop display in Waco on Twenty-Fifth Street. In 1956, the animals moved again to a fire station, and then in 1960 the animals moved to a permanent ten-acre site by Lake Waco and the Madison Cooper Municipal Airport known as the Central Texas Zoological Park.

During its early years, the park was a large collection of animals held in various enclosures with a food preparation area made of rock walls and a dirt floor. At its location by Lake Waco, staff members of the Central Texas Zoological Park worked hard to make the zoo operate professionally. Civic groups of volunteers raised money to build a nursery clinic for the animals and a kitchen to prepare food. Throughout the 1970s, zoo docents organized educational programs for McLennan County residents and the zoo built an entryway facility with a gift shop and ticket office. With all these moves forward, however, the zoo’s infrastructure and income could not support the dream of a sophisticated and scientific organization or the growth and nutrition of the animals. The zoo needed to move and rebuild. In order to make the dream a reality, community members interested in wildlife conservation joined the board of directors and pushed towards legitimacy and a more sophisticated institution.

In the late 1970s, the zoo became an entity of the city of Waco, and the discussion of moving locations began. Leaders of the zoo recognized Cameron Park as the perfect location because of the abundance of flora and fauna, ponds, and other natural elements that many city zoos have to build. Interest in the project gained momentum throughout Waco, and members of local civic organizations became heavily involved with raising money to move the zoo. After voters defeated a referendum to move the Central Texas Zoo from Airport Park to Cameron Park 1983, a county bond election was held and a vote passed in support of the zoo’s move to Cameron Park for 9.6 million dollars. The new zoo, known as Cameron Park Zoo, opened its doors on July 18, 1993, on fifty-two acres of lush land with over forty animals in natural habitats.

Since its opening in 1993, Cameron Park Zoo built new attractions such as a reptile house, Lemur Island, an African lion exhibit, and more. In 2005, the Brazos River Country exhibit opened to showcase indigenous plants and animals found on the banks of the Brazos River. In 2009, the Asian Forest exhibit opened with orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Komodo dragons. Cameron Park Zoo is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the staff provide care, training, and nutrition to animals. The Cameron Park Zoo not only is a recreational place to see animals, but is an educational resource for students from early childhood to graduate school education. The zoo holds seminars for international research and plays a large part in wildlife conservation by caring for endangered species and returning animals to the wild.

Today, Cameron Park Zoo is home to over 1,700 animals that are given care from the staff and veterinarians. The zoo continues to host opportunities to learn about the wildlife in the forms of school field trips, educational events, and fundraising events, and it is one of the top sites to visit in Waco.

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For eighty-eight years, the William Cameron House stood as a nineteenth-century architectural treasure near the intersection of Austin Avenue and Thirteenth Street. The fine embellishments on the mansion dazzled Waco residents and helped it to become a familiar and revered residential landmark of the city. 

Born in Scotland on January 11, 1834, William Cameron moved to the United States in 1852 and worked as a construction foreman for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Cameron enlisted for the Union Army during the Civil War and was captured at the Battle of Springfield in 1861. After his release, Cameron worked in Missouri to supply grain for the government. While in Missouri, Cameron married Letitia Stewart and had two children. In 1865, Cameron began work for the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad and soon built retail lumberyards along the rail lines toward the Southwest and continued accumulating wealth. Cameron’s first wife died very early in life, and Cameron then married Flora Ann Berry of Little Rock, Arkansas. He became the father of three more children and provided generously to them all. The family moved to Waco, Texas, in 1876, where Cameron opened an additional lumberyard and headquarters for the William Cameron Company. He also got involved in the grain and flour mill business, and was a director at the First National Bank of Waco. 

While residing in Waco, Cameron built a mansion for his wife Flora and their three children. The house was completed in 1885 as a surprise for his wife. The designer of the sophisticated structure architect was William Winant Larmour, the same man who designed the construction on Baylor University’s Old Main and Burleson Halls. The house was beautifully decorated with white architectural millwork and ironwork and boasted a French blue background. Highlights of the mansion included windows made of heavy crystal glass, massive mahogany stairs that complimented the parquet flooring, and a roof topped with an iron-crowned cupola. The plentiful space served as a home for Cameron, his family and in-laws, and provided space for domestic employees.

After the death of Cameron in 1899, the house was passed down to his son, William Waldo Cameron, and then to his grandson, Edward Cameron Bolton, who saw the home fit for demolition. Coca-Cola Bottling Company bought the home and made plans to clear the property. Many citizens of Waco were disappointed; however, historic preservation was out of the question due to the condition of the house, its immense size, and the level of upkeep required. In 1966, a young entrepreneur, Homer Owen, took the responsibility of selling the contents of the house before demolition. Citizens of Waco were excited to pay fifty cents apiece to view the inside of the house, while antique buyers encountered a feast. Everything inside, outside, and even parts of the house were for sale. Contents included love letters from Cameron to his second wife, proving that he was a very affectionate man. Doors, windows, trunks, evening clothes, wedding attire, and even structural items went into the hands of buyers. 

Once the interest of the public swayed from Cameron’s house, mysterious reports came to light about the presence of a ghost. As Homer Owen was preparing for the demolition of the house, vandals broke into the home and caused damages, and as a result, Owen stayed in the house to keep watch during the night. Owen laid awake and reported strange noises and footsteps. He asked several individuals such as teenage boys, Baylor University students, and carpenters to stay in the house overnight and keep watch. Some of the guests stayed overnight but never returned, and some only lasted half the night. Many citizens of Waco rejected the stories, while some took them seriously and provided a theory that it was the ghost of the architect trying to drive people away to keep them from demolishing the house, or that it was the ghost of William Cameron himself.

After many years of serving as a beautiful landmark in Waco, the empty house caught fire in 1966, and the remainder of the house was later demolished. Today the William Cameron house rests in photographs, history books, and the memories of the citizens of Waco.

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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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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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In the mid-twentieth century, Waco underwent major changes through the federally funded Urban Renewal Agency of Waco. Areas impacted included numerous city blocks between LaSalle Avenue and Waco Drive. The project greatly affected the city’s people, businesses, schools, and buildings, including Waco’s most prominent landmark, the ALICO building.

Between 1964 and 1966, the ALICO (American Life Insurance Company) building received major updates. The largest and most significant addition to the structure was the ALICO Inn and its convention facilities. The 22-story ALICO building, originally known as the Amicable building, was completed in 1911, and designed by architects Roy E. Lane and Sanguinet & Staats. It stood as the tallest office building in the southwestern United States at its completion. Once located in the central business district, it served as a vital part of the city’s economy. In order to remain that way, it needed to keep pace with the rapidly changing business climate of Waco in the 1950s and ’60s.

With the closing of the Roosevelt Hotel and its conversion into a retirement facility, more downtown hotels were needed, and the Waco Chamber of Commerce was receptive to ideas such as the creation of the ALICO Center. The city wanted to attract conventions and shoppers to the downtown area. Twenty-nine-year-old architect and owner of Down-Tel Corporation, Jay Frank Powell, initiated the center’s proposal. According to an article in the September 20, 1964, Waco Tribune-Herald, the Waco Chamber, when presented with the ALICO Center plan: “pounced on Powell like a piece of beef dangled before a starving lion.”

When completed in 1966, the ALICO Center Inn contained 115 rooms for overnight guests and a second-floor meeting room that sat 250 in a banquet or 1,000 to 1,200 people auditorium-style. It was described as a “downtown motor hotel with convention facilities, a motor bank, and a five-story parking garage.” The ALICO Center was designed to match its changing surroundings, including part of Austin Avenue’s closure to make it into a pedestrian mall, another part of the Waco Urban Renewal Agency’s planning.

At the 1964 ALICO Center groundbreaking ceremony, the president of Amicable Life Insurance Company, Franklin Smith, stated, “It will be not only a step toward completion of ALICO Center, but mark the beginning of a new atmosphere and a new enthusiasm in downtown Waco.” Additionally, Waco’s mayor Roger Conger compared the event to “the historic groundbreaking for the Amicable building more than fifty years ago.”

The end result, completed in 1966, changed the design of the original 1911 ALICO building, with the new hotel, convention center, parking garage, and motor bank joined directly to it. As a result, the ALICO Center’s additions took up nearly the entire 400 block of Austin Avenue—stretching much of the complex back to Washington Avenue. The entire redesign of the 1966 ALICO Center seemed well balanced in appearance—and represented the mid-century modern architectural style frequently seen during the period.

However, the ALICO Center as it appeared in 1966 is no longer. Like many other downtown businesses, the center struggled as many retailers moved out to the suburbs. The hotel and convention center were demolished in the late nineties, and the space is now used as a parking lot. The main vintage 1911 building and parking garage complex remain and retain most of the later modifications, including much of the 1966 addition’s façade at street level, wrapping around Austin Avenue, the parking garage along Fifth Street, and back to the Washington Avenue side of the complex.

The ALICO building has stood for over a century, remaining a successful combination of old and “new.” Most importantly, it continues to serve as Waco’s most prominent downtown landmark.

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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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For over a century, Baylor University has served as one of the various educational institutions contributing to Waco’s reputation as the “Athens on the Brazos.” Constructed to house the university’s administration, Pat Neff Hall came to serve as a symbol of the university’s legacy and tradition.

Despite the economic uncertainty of the 1930s, enrollment at the nearly century-old Baylor University rapidly continued to increase. The large influx of students under the presidency of former Texas Governor Pat Neff led to overcrowded classrooms and dwindling faculty space. Thus, when the General Education Board, a New York-based philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting higher-education institutions, offered $50,000 for the construction of an administration building to free up classroom space, the university seized the opportunity.

On December 7, 1938, the university held a Masonic cornerstone-laying ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on the new building. The architectural firm Birch D. Easterwood and Son designed a 46,000-square-foot American Georgian-style structure, which cost around $250,000 to complete. Workers finished construction on the building in 1939, although it was not dedicated until February 1, 1940, on Founder’s Day, the day on which the university celebrates its founders and commemorates the anniversary of its charter.

Named for the president who saw the university through a difficult economy which threatened to close the school, the hall features inscriptions on all sides favored by Pat Neff. The east and west halls bear two quotes from scripture, including the passage form Proverbs advising that “wisdom is better than rubies.” A line under the eaves just above the third floor notes “the youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity,” a quote from Benjamin Disraeli that Neff once used a chapel speech. As noted by retired Baylor professor Robert Reid, the building came to reflect not only Neff’s tremendous passion for the importance of education, but also the hope of the founders of the university to establish a center of learning for “all ages to come.”

One of the building’s most distinctive features today is its gold roof which can be seen from various points throughout the city. Yet the roof was originally stainless steel, and remained so for many years. At the time of its construction, it was only the second stainless steel roof in the entire nation. The university added gold leafing in 2000.

Within the tower lies another famous aspect of Pat Neff Hall: the carillon. In December of 1939, the set of twenty-five chimes donated by trustee Thomas Cullen rang out across campus for the first time with the hymn “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” The bells inevitably wore out and in 1988 were replaced by the current forty-eight-bell carillon donated by Regent Emeritus Drayton McLane. The new bells were constructed in France and, after a shipping mishap which sent them to Mexico was remedied, were dedicated on November 4, 1988.

In addition to fulfilling its main function of housing the office of the president and other administrative officials, Pat Neff Hall has come to serve as a center of Baylor tradition. The practice of lighting the hall up with green lights following an athletic win began in 1978 and continues today. Perhaps the most widely recognized use of the hall is its prominent placement on the university institutional mark. Used for all official communication purposes, the symbol featuring Pat Neff Hall serves as a testament to the university’s legacy, tradition, and commitment to education.

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On January 22, 1927, tragedy struck Baylor University when a collision near Round Rock, Texas, ended the lives on ten students en route to an athletic event.

Aboard the bus that day were twenty-two young men from Baylor University bound for a basketball game against the University of Texas. In addition to players, the vehicle carried managers, yell leaders, and fans. Heavy rain made the lengthy ride to Austin treacherous. Driver Joe Potter had a difficult time navigating the unfamiliar road due to poor visibility and slick road surfaces.

After three and a half hours of driving, the bus reached the railroad crossing in Round Rock. Fast approaching from the west was the Sunshine Special, a northbound passenger train. The Sunshine Special was behind schedule, so its engineer urged it ahead at a speed of sixty miles per hour. As the train neared the crossing the engineer fired its whistle, but no one on the bus heard the screech. By the time Potter saw the train, it was too late to stop on the slick street. He pressed the accelerator and tried to push the bus past the tracks ahead of the train. When the bus failed to get up to speed in time, Potter swerved in a desperate attempt to avoid collision. Several students jumped or were thrown out of the bus as it lurched over the tracks. Tragically, only half of the bus managed to clear the tracks before the train caught the vehicle’s rear end.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, local residents and medical personnel worked hard to treat the injured and identify the dead. Sadly, ten young men did not survive the collision: Jack Castellaw, Sam Dillow, Merle Dudley, Ivey Foster, Robert Hannah, Robert Hailey, Clyde (Abe) Kelley, Willis Murray, James L. Walker, and William Winchester.

Baylor University and the greater community of Waco deeply felt the loss of the ten. Baylor hosted a memorial service that drew over three thousand people. A mayoral proclamation saw local businesses closed, and the city’s telephone system shut down for the hour of the service.

Though individual memorials exist for each member of the deceased, the group lives on in popular memory as the Immortal Ten, a title coined by Waco Times-Herald reporter Jack Hawkins. In the January 23, 1927 issue of the paper, Hawkins wrote, “Though Death’s icy fingers have written ‘Finis’ across the life of each of the immortal ten who are today mourned, their memory will never perish.”

The legacy of the Immortal Ten is far-reaching. The terrible accident prompted politicians to re-examine railway safety in the state. Eight years after the accident, Texas’ first railroad overpass was built over the tracks in Round Rock. The memory of the Immortal Ten also serves as the foundation for one of Baylor’s most important homecoming traditions. Each year, the story of the Immortal Ten is told anew to freshmen and a candlelight remembrance ceremony is held. Freshmen are encouraged to band together and embrace the spirit of togetherness that helped heal the campus in the wake of tragedy.

After ten years of planning and fundraising, a permanent memorial to the Immortal Ten was installed in Traditions Square on Baylor campus. It features a ten-by-eight-foot bas-relief panel representing six of the fallen ten athletes. Four free-standing life-sized bronze statues of the remaining athletes compliment the panel. Bruce Greene, renowned western sculptor, crafted the monument. 

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Waco’s rapid development established it as one of the most significant urban centers of the South by the late nineteenth century. Home to one of the longest-spanning suspension bridges in the country, the once small frontier town owed a great portion of its success to the cotton industry. The strong agricultural tradition established by Stephen F. Austin and Waco’s earliest settlers in the mid-nineteenth century flourished into an international trade system. Farmers grew, ginned, and shipped this “white gold” not only throughout Texas, but also to Europe, South America, and India. Waco reigned in the South as the “King of Cotton” until the onset of the Great Depression.

By 1900, cottonseed was second only to lumber as the most important cash crop in Texas. Mills sprang up all over the state as Texas established itself as the leading processor of cottonseed in the nation, and one of the largest suppliers of cooking oil, vegetable shortening, margarine, and salad oil—byproducts of cottonseed oil.

On January 29, 1910, J. T. Davis established Brazos Valley Cotton Oil, Inc., in Waco. The main operations of the company took place at a mill located on the block between Webster Avenue and Jackson Avenue in the heart of Waco’s business district.

From its onset, the locally owned mill contributed enormously to the economic wealth of the city by purchasing thousands of tons of cottonseed annually from farmers, and employing up to seventy-five men. The railway ran adjacent to the mill, bringing in shipments of cotton from local gins in order to be processed. Workers then extracted oil from the cottonseed to be used for both culinary and industrial purposes. After the mill’s completely modernized machinery processed the seed, the oil was shipped all over the world. In order to prevent unnecessary waste, the mill sold unused meal as cattle feed.

Davis grew the company quickly, and by 1924 had already acquired a second company, the Valley Mills Cotton Oil Company. Though the Great Depression marked the decline of Waco’s cotton industry, business at the cotton oil mill continued for many years. The firm faced several setbacks in the mid-twentieth century, such as the fire which erupted in the mill in 1943, destroying the hull house and mixed feed plant. Yet operations continued, and even flourished. By 1950, workers completed construction on the two 120-foot-tall silos which today are noted as some of Waco’s most notable landmarks.

The latter half of the century saw a turn in the cotton mill’s fortunes. A serious drought followed by widespread Central Texas flooding in 1957 led to sporadic production, and in September the Small Business Administration granted the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company a disaster loan. However, the firm was unable to recover, and in July of 1958, stockholders sold the company to David C. Blintliff Interests of Houston. In the mid-1960s, ownership of the plant changed hands again, and the mill served as a storage facility for JPM Feeds. The facility sat vacant in the 1990s, although the Murphys, owners of JPM Feeds, retained ownership of the property.

In 2014, well-known television personalities and Wacoans Chip and Joanna Gaines purchased the mill from Gary Murphy with a vision to restore and repurpose the historic site. After receiving approval from the city, the pair began construction work on Magnolia Market, a $1.4 million project which was completed in October of 2015. Though the festival marketplace offers modern additions such as a retail showroom, a monthly antique and craft market, and a food truck court, the Gaineses are working to retain the historic integrity of the site through efforts such as the preservation of the original silos.

For nearly half a century, the mill bolstered Waco’s economy through its support of local farmers, provision of jobs, and international commerce. Today, the adaptive reuse and preservation efforts of the Gaineses ensure that the mill will retain this role at the heart of the city’s economic development for many years to come. 

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Near the turn of the twentieth century, a booming cotton industry was quickly establishing Waco as one of the major urban centers of the South, encouraging many residents to more readily invest and spend their money locally. In 1890, local stone contractor John Tennant decided to build himself a new home after striking a deal with banker J. W. Mann. The deal provided Tennant with a plot of land in exchange for a stone obelisk to mark the Mann plot in Oakwood Cemetery. Tennant took leftover stone from his latest construction job, the Provident Building at the corner of Fourth Street and Franklin Avenue, in order to begin construction on the basement and foundation of his new home, situated at the outskirts of the city.

The reality of Tennant’s financial situation did not quite match up to his grandiose dreams. After struggling to make ends meet, he sold the unframed house to cotton broker Ripley Hanrick in 1906 under the agreement that Tennant could continue to do the stone work on the house. However, when financial difficulties continued, the pair abandoned the house in 1908.

A few years later, local investors employed Roy E. Lane to construct the elite Huaco Club in the same area as the castle. Some expressed concern over the abandoned and unfinished home, but Lane saw the building as a blank slate of potential. He convinced notable Wacoan and Civil War veteran Capt. Alfred Abeel to purchase the home in 1913. Abeel employed Lane to complete the frame. Lane transformed the frame into a castle complete with three stories and a basement, eight fireplaces, servants’ quarters, and a tower. Modeled after a small German castle along the Rhine River, white sandstone and small amounts of limestone composed the exterior of the house. The interior accents varied by room and floor, including imported materials such as Caen stone from France, Carrara marble from Italy, and Honduran mahogany paneling.

In 1941, Irene Pipkin, whose family owned the Pipkin Drugstores, purchased the home and moved in with her daughter and son-in-law. When she passed away, the castle passed to her daughter, Pauline Pipkin Garrett, Waco’s first female pharmacist. Pauline and her husband Barney Garrett resided in the home for many years.

After Pauline passed away, her will stated that Garrett could retain the home until he no longer wished to reside in it. When Garrett decided to move out, the home entered its only period of public use when it passed to the Austin Avenue Methodist Church. The church found the home to be an ideal place to host youth events, but the expense of keeping up the home soon became too great. The church sold the home to Jack Schwan in 1969 for $50,000.

The Schwan family fixed many of the issues in the home arising from age and disuse, and also renovated the second floor, following a tropical fantasy theme. In 1977, the Schwans applied for and received a historical marker for the home. The family attempted to sell the castle in 1982, believing it to be worth close to $1.25 million after the renovations. However, the high price frightened away many interested buyers.

Jack Schwan finally found a buyer in 1991 after cutting the price of the castle drastically. Over the next two decades, the home passed through various owners’ hands and fell into disrepair. Many owners found the castle too large and in need of too much maintenance to be a financially feasible home. In 2014, the home sold again and a new group—led by Oxford scholar Dirk Obbink, contractor Tom Lupfer Jr., and architect Sterling Thompson—has begun the process of renovating the castle. 

In 2019 Cottonland Castle was purchased by Chip and Joanna Gaines of the famous retail empire Magnolia Market and they finished rennovation of the structure in summer 2022.

The castle will always be a striking hallmark of the Castle Heights neighborhood, and the impressive home continues to stand as a quiet reminder of the importance of the cotton industry which once brought prosperity to Waco. 

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At the corner of Clifton Street and Elm Avenue is Jasper’s Bar-B-Que, Waco’s oldest-operating barbecue restaurant. Although East Waco has undergone many changes, Jasper’s has never changed locations and remains a place where residents today can expect to be served the same fare that brought their hungry predecessors to the counter at its opening in 1919.

Jasper’s began as a humble pushcart fruit stand operated by Italian immigrant Jasper DiMaria. In its early days of operation, the cart’s customer base was largely comprised of passengers from the interurban railway. Waco was the last stop on the rail line to Dallas, and travelers would frequent DiMaria’s cart to purchase refreshments for the remaining long haul. Recognizing the profitability of offering more substantial foodstuffs from his cart, DiMaria started selling barbecue. He would go to a nearby meat-packer and purchase a quarter of a cow or a bull. Soon customers were lining up for dishes like chopped beef and gravy or neck bone.

As demand for his takeout barbecue increased, DiMaria abandoned the cart for a permanent structure. Requiring nothing fancy, DiMaria set up shop in a building with a dirt floor, a table he brought from home, and a few picnic benches. Customers were not put off by this humble establishment, and word of mouth spread about the menu at Jasper’s. Soon locals flocked to Jasper’s as well as travelers. Legend has it that when the restaurant’s lines would sometimes stretch down the street, DiMaria would walk to the place in line where he estimated the food would run out and pronounce it to be the end of line. Everyone past that point would have to try again the next day to get their barbecue order.

When his son Tony became old enough to join the family business, DiMaria renamed it Jasper DiMaria & Son Bar-B-Que. The restaurant remained family-owned until Tony’s retirement in 1990.

Although the DiMaria family is no longer involved in its daily operation, Jasper’s Bar-B-Que has remained true to the cooking practices and flavors of its namesake. The original boiling pit is still on premise, allowing the tradition of boiling the meat in a large vat of au jus to continue. Jasper’s most sought-after items continue to be neck bones and its signature gravy. The chopped beef is still served with slices of white bread on butcher paper, and the gravy is made according to the original recipe.

Jasper’s Bar-B-Que stands out for more than just its time-tested recipes. Its longevity has allowed the restaurant to also function as a community hub for East Wacoans. Tony Thompson, a server who has been employed by Jasper’s for more than two decades, notes that it is not unusual to see multiple generations of East Wacoans dining at Jasper’s. They come not only for the food but to discuss sports, politics, and life events. Thompson is proud of the fact Jasper’s is located in East Waco and considers it a privilege to serve the community he was raised in.

By preserving the recipes of Jasper DiMaria and serving as a community gathering place, Jasper’s Bar-B-Que remains true to its roots.

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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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Built when fewer than seven hundred citizens lived in Waco Village proper, the Earle-Napier-Kinnard House has truly been a witness to history.

In 1856, Thomas Harrison and John Baylis Earle purchased a double log cabin on five acres for $1,000. Two years later, Earle built a two-room brick home on three of the acres and moved into the residence with his wife Emma. The couple had their first three children in the home but eventually relocated to East Waco in order to be closer to the factory Earle established to manufacture uniforms for Confederate soldiers. In 1866, H. S. Morgan purchased the property for $4,000 in gold specie and started work on a two-story addition to the original building. By May of 1868, the house had new owners in Dr. John Smith Napier and his wife Mary, who acquired the property for $5,000. The Napiers took on the expansion project and enlarged the house to its present form. Unfortunately, Mary Napier did not get to enjoy the home for long as she passed away in April of 1872. Dr. Napier lived in the home until his death in 1889. Prior to her father’s death, Sallie Napier, one of the seven Napier children, took up residence in the family home with her husband Rev. David Cannon Kinnard. The Kinnards frequently entertained visiting preachers, leading the residence to be nicknamed “the House of Pastors” among their contemporaries. Mary, the eldest Kinnard daughter, moved into the house when she was five years old and lived there until her death at age ninety-four in 1957.

The house is built in the Greek Revival style, as evidenced by its white, pillared porticos. Its exterior is comprised of pale pink handmade brick from a local kiln. The porch has an ornamental wooden banister, which resembles ironwork, on both the upper and lower galleries. The windows are nicely adorned with cypress shutters.

In January of 1958, Frances Duncan Nalle purchased the house. Nalle initially oversaw the refurbishment of the residence. The restoration included enclosing the latticed back porch and adding two bathrooms over that porch on the second floor. Although the above efforts enabled the house to return to its former state, much of the property’s original acreage was lost to the construction of Interstate Highway 35. However, the above did not diminish the historic value of the house nor its appeal to the broader community. For a time the home served as a clubhouse for Baylor faculty social gatherings. A newlywed Baylor undergraduate couple, Kathleen and Herman Massey, lived there with full period furniture as onsite curators in the 1960s. Then in 1967, Nalle endowed the house and presented it, with all its antique furnishings, to the Waco Perpetual Growth Foundation.

On March 11, 1971, the National Register of Historic Places added the Earle-Napier-Kinnard House to its list of properties. It had the honor of being the third structure from Waco to be included, preceded only by the Suspension Bridge and Fort House.

The Earle-Napier-Kinnard House is now a public museum run by Historic Waco Foundation, placing it in the unique position of being a testament to Waco’s past while remaining a witness to the city’s future development.

For tours of the Earle-Napier-Kinnard House, or for more information about Historic Waco Foundation, visit www.historicwaco.org.

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The history of Fort House is as much a narrative about a nineteenth-century family home as it is local twentieth century efforts to preserve the landmarks of Waco’s prosperous past.

The man behind one of Waco’s more distinctive homes was not a Texas native. Originally from La Grange, Alabama, William A. Fort came to Waco in 1854 with a caravan of five hundred people. He and his father established a plantation four miles south of Waco in the Downsville area. On May 7, 1856, he married Dionita Elizabeth Wilson. After the Civil War, Fort decided the area south of Waco was too devastated, so he purchased six acres of land at South Fourth Street and Webster Avenue from his wife for $1,300. In 1868, he built Fort House and moved his family to the city. Fort rose to prominence within Waco as the acting president of Waco National Bank, and the owner of the city’s first transit system.

Fort designed the house according to the Greek Revival style. It is constructed of locally made pink brick possibly sourced from the Trice brick kiln in East Waco. On either side of the front door are cypress wood, fluted ionic columns. The columns were made in New Orleans, shipped to Galveston, and then transported to Waco overland by ox cart and flat-bottom boat. The house also features cypress shutters and pine trim. The balcony above the front door originally extended to the columns.

The earliest floor plan consisted of a central hall with a bedroom on the left; staircase, parlor, and dining room on the right. The upper floor repeated the arrangement below with bedrooms to the right and left of a central hallway. At first the home featured a detached kitchen in order to minimize the danger of fire and to prevent kitchen heat, odor, and noise from entering the house. Around 1876, Fort elongated the ell, or perpendicular wing of the house, by adding two bedrooms on the upper floor and a kitchen and three-walled area on the first floor. This area was left open for wagons to pull in and unload provisions directly to the house.

The original plot of land on which Fort House stands extended from South Fourth Street and Webster Avenue to encompass six or more acres. The western boundary was Fifth Street. A white picket fence enclosed the property until the Fort family replaced it with a fancier wrought- iron fence sometime prior to 1890. This enclosure was necessary as the Fort family kept horses, cows, and poultry and maintained extensive vegetable gardens and orchards. Fort House underwent significant changes in the early twentieth century. From 1911 to 1955, the house ceased to be the residence of its namesake family and was rented out to various tenants. The property fell into decline until the Junior League of Waco purchased it in 1956. The Junior League commissioned architects Bob Bennett of Waco and Raiford Stripling of San Augustine, authorities on early Texas restorations, with the task of returning the home to its former state. Initially, the organization intended to use the refurbished home as a headquarters and tearoom. However, recognizing the property’s historic value, the Junior League deeded the house to the Waco Society for Historic Preservation (later Historic Waco Foundation). In 1970, Congressman W. R. Poage announced Fort House had been selected for the National Register of Historic Places. The residence served as a public museum until 2019. In March 2019, Chip and Joanna Gaines purchased the home to be added to their Magnolia Market properties. Although it is no longer open for viewing, Fort House stands preserved as a physical reminder of the legacy of the Fort family and the value Wacoans place on history.

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