Lacy Lakeview

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Lacy Lakeview is a suburban community located approximately five miles north of Waco on Interstate Highway 35 in McLennan County.

Lacy Lakeview was part of the league of land granted to Sarah Ann Vauchere Walker in 1843 for her husband Jacob Walker’s service at the Alamo. The land grant sat east of the Brazos River and north of the mouth of the Bosque River, and extended past White Rock Creek. The property extended east beyond Tehuacana Creek.

After Walker’s second husband died, leaving her with nine children to support, she sold off portions of the land grant and farmed others to provide for her family. The 1850 Census listed her as “family head, occupation farmer.” She built a log cabin on the banks of the Brazos River, and later built a two-story Greek Revival house which stood for many years as the only permanent dwelling in McLennan County north of Waco Village.

In the 1850s, two communities began to grow up in the area. The region which would become Lacy was named for William David Lacy, who sold farm lots for development in the early 1880s. Walter G. Lacy, Sr. of Waco financed the construction of roads and water services for the community in 1910. In 1912, Lacy became a station on the Texas Electric Railway, an interurban rail line connecting Dallas and Waco. By the 1930s the area had two businesses and forty residents.

Small spring-fed lakes in the area inspired the name Lakeview. Frost School, the first educational establishment in the community, was named for Josiah Frost who donated land as the site for a log cabin structure. The school was eventually moved to a site near the Dallas Highway.

Lakeview School replaced Frost School in nearby Lacy in 1915 and became the focus of an independent district in 1927. The four-room, two-story red brick building burned on two occasions in 1939, but was rebuilt with help from the Works Progress Administration. The would receive a new building again in 1964. During the 1950-1951 school year, Lakeview consolidated with Elm Mott, forming the Connally Consolidated School District, which continues to serve the community today.

The Lacy and Lakeview communities established a common city government in 1953 and elected Frank Mosley as mayor. Lacy Lakeview became a suburban community to the city of Waco and in 1998 merged with Northcrest. The merger brought improved city services and an increased population, allowing Lacy Lakeview to qualify under Texas law for home rule status. Today, Lacy Lakeview remains an integral part of McLennan County, home to nearly six thousand residents.