History
The Waco Tornado
One of the most disastrous tornadoes in Texas history swept through downtown Waco on the afternoon of May 11, 1953, killing 114 people, destroying 346 buildings and creating property damage in excess of $50 million. Some of the worst devastation occurred at this site, where 32 employees of the R.T. Dennis Furniture Company died when the building collapsed.
History
Toliver Chapel Baptist Church
This congregation grew out of a Sunday school class led by the Rev. I. Toliver, a highly-respected Baptist minister and civic leader in Waco's African American community. The Rev. Toliver, for whom the church is named, organized the Toliver Chapel Baptist Church in July 1895. The Rev. J. Cole was called as first pastor. The church purchased slightly more than four acres in east Waco from W.M.
History
Torrey's Trading Post No. 2
(2.3 mi. north on bluff above Trading House Creek) Site of greatest Indian council in Republic of Texas. There President Sam Houston made famous 1844 peace talks to assembled chiefs. A "listening post" for frontier; aided in peacekeeping. Built 1844 and run by Geo. Barnard for the Torrey Brothers. In 1849 the post was moved to Waco by Barnard. (1966)
History
Tours Community
The first settlers to this area came by wagon from Teutopolis, Illinois, in 1872. Having arrived on St. Martin's Day, November 11, they called the settlement Martinsville. The name was later changed to Tours in honor of the city in France where St. Martin served as Bishop. After the construction of homes was completed, the settlers began building a structure for the services of St.
History
W. H. Janes Home
This board and batten house was constructed in 1885 by Kentucky native W.H. Janes (b. 1841) and his wife Sue (Webb) (d. 1929). A veteran of the Civil War, Janes worked as a rancher and businessman, and was elected to one term as county commissioner in 1898. He moved to Leroy (2 mi. W) in 1902 and later established a bank there with his son D. T. Janes.
History
Waco City Waterworks
In 1849 Waco's main street was platted near one of a number of large natural artesian springs indigenous to this area. In the last quarter of the 19th Century Waco relied on private suppliers of artesian well water for its municipal needs. These supplies eventually proved inadequate and in 1901 the city approved bonds for a new waterworks system.
History
Waco Lodge No. 92, A.F.& A.M.
Oldest organization in continuous existence in Waco. Chartered Jan. 23, 1852, as Bosque Lodge, had name change in 1856. Texas Governors Richard Coke (1874-76), L.S. ("Sul") Ross (1887-91), and Pat M. Neff (1921-25) were members of this lodge, devoted to benevolences.
History
Waco State Home
In 1919, the 36th Texas Legislature established a "state home for dependent and neglected children" in Waco to provide these children with care, training, and education. The Waco State Home, as it later was renamed, officially opened in 1922.
Entertainment & Sports
Waco Theatre
Originally a two-story dark brick building with classical detailing, this theatre opened in 1914 as the Hippodrome. Managed by a group of Waco businessmen headed by T.P. Finnegan, it was used for silent movies, traveling Vaudeville shows, and a variety of civic events. After a minor fire in 1928 the structure was enlarged and remodeled in the present Mediterranean Revival style.
History
Waco University
In 1861, Dr. Rufus C. Burleson (1823-1901) resigned as President of Baylor University (then located at Independence) to become head of the Waco Classical School, which had been founded in 1856 as the Trinity River Male High School by The Rev. Solomon G. O'Bryan.
History
Waco, County Seat of McLennan County
Within sight of this spot March 1, 1849, occurred the first sale of town lots at Waco Village, former home of Waco Indians. Shapley P. Ross, first settler, started Brazos Ferry in 1850. McLennan County was created same year, named for Neil McLennan, pioneer Scot whose cabin on the South Bosque River became first Anglo-American home in the area (1845).
History
Watson Feed Store
Ruff Watson (1879-1950) bought this site in 1903 and established the R. Watson Feed Store. He offered a variety of goods and service, including feed, seed, wood, and coal, as well as a slaughterhouse, butcher shop and leather goods store. He built this structure in 1906. His son, Murray Watson, Sr.
History
Welborn-Bostick Home
James Irby Welborn and wife Nettie Ann Moore, natives of Missouri, purchased this land in 1860. They donated acreage for Moody College, now Moody Public School, and deeded right-of-way for the Santa Fe Railroad. A son, George Yancey Welborn, and wife Theodocia Wharton became owners of the land in 1885. George built this home in 1914 on old family homesite.
History
West
This community traces its origin to the establishment by entrepreneur Thomas M. West of a stagecoach stop, dry goods store and post office here in the late 1860s. Known as the Bold Springs Settlement, these commercial structures were built on a section of the "Dallas Road" leading to West's ranch property.
History
West Brethren Church
Czech immigrants began settling in this area of McLennan County about 1875. Early families included those of Josef Masek and John Foit. They attended St. Peter's Evangelical Church, founded and attended by German settlers, until the Rev. Henry Juren began conducting services in the Czech Moravian Brethren tradition. At his first service in 1888, the Rev. Mr. Juren baptized infant H. E.
History
White Hall Cemetery
White Hall Cemetery is the last vestige of the once growing agricultural community of White Hall. The first graves, marked in 1877, are located north of the White Hall Baptist Church site on land deeded by Capt. Burl Jones Kendrick (1824-1912). A Civil War veteran who owned 320 acres in the area. In 1899, Capt. Kendrick deeded an additional 1.
History
White Rock Cemetery
Although local tradition claims this cemetery began with the burial of a drifter in 1855, the first recorded burial was that of Elizabeth A. Bennett in 1856. The cemetery served the communities of White Rock, West, Elm Mott, Gholson, Ross, and Waco. The graveyard was enlarged in 1947, and in 1959 the White Rock Cemetery Association made arrangements for the cemetery's upkeep.
Nature
William Cameron Park
IN 1910, THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM CAMERON DONATED LAND AND FUNDS TO HONOR THE PROMINENT LUMBER BUSINESSMAN AND CIVIC LEADER WHO DIED IN 1899. THE ORIGINAL 125 ACRE PUBLIC PARK INCLUDED THE POPULAR PROCTOR SPRINGS AREA ON THE WEST BANK OF THE BRAZOS RIVER. ABOUT 15,000 PEOPLE, MORE THAN HALF OF WACO'S POPULATION, ATTENDED THE DEDICATION, WITH MASTER OF CEREMONIES DR.
History
Willow Grove Community Cemetery
This cemetery has served the community of Willow Grove since the late 1800s. William "Buck" Manning and A.W. Crawford, former slaves, moved here with their families in the years following emancipation (1865), founding Willow Grove in 1871. They purchased property and each man donated an acre of land on which to establish Willow Grove Baptist Church and this cemetery.
History
Wortham Bend Cemetery
Tennessee native William Green Duke Wortham came to Texas around 1854. His wife, Charlotte Coke, whom he wed in 1841, was sister to Texas Governor Richard Coke. The couple settled in this area, and the community that developed here was named for Wortham. This site was in use as a cemetery as early as 1864, when Sarah Bird was interred here.
History
Zion Lutheran Church
Many of the people responsible for the establishment of this Lutheran congregation were German immigrants who entered Texas primarily through the Port of Galveston and migrated to the rich farmland of Central Texas. As early as 1890, families began meeting informally in homes for worship services conducted in the German language.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
