Editing Bell County, Texas (section)

==History==
In 1834–1835, Little River became part of [[Robertson's Colony]], made up of settlers from [[Nashville, Tennessee]], led by [[Sterling C. Robertson]]; they were the families of Captain Goldsby Childers, Robert Davison, John Fulcher, Moses Griffin, John Needham, Michael Reed and his son William Whitaker Reed, William Taylor, and Judge Orville T. Tyler.<ref name="Bell County, Texas">{{Cite web |last=Connor |first=Seymour V |last2=Odintz, Mark |title=Bell County, Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcb06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221154000/http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcb06 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> This area became known as the Tennessee Valley. Soon after (1836) the settlements were deserted during the Runaway Scrape,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Covington |first=Carolyn Callaway |title=Runaway Scrape |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfr01 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112201130/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pfr01 |archive-date=November 12, 2010 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> reoccupied, deserted again after the Elmwood Creek Blood Scrape, and reoccupied. Texas Ranger George Erath established a fort on Little River.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cutrer |first=Thomas W |title=George Bernard Erath |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fer01 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>

During 1843–44, settlers began returning.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />  The next year, the [[Republic of Texas]] founded Baylor Female College (since developed as [[University of Mary Hardin–Baylor]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brackney |first=William H |title=Congregation and Campus: Baptists in Higher Education |publisher=Mercer University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-88146-130-5 |page=147}}</ref>

In 1850, Bell County was organized and named for Texas Governor [[Peter Hansborough Bell]]. The population then was 600 whites and 60 black slaves.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />  Belton<ref>{{Cite web |title=Belton, Texas |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Belton_Texas/Belton.htm |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Texas Escapes |publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC}}</ref> was designated as the county seat in 1851.

The last serious Indian raid in the area occurred in 1859.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />   Bell County assumed its present boundaries<ref name="Bell County, Texas" /> with the 1860 resurvey of the line between Bell and [[Milam County, Texas|Milam]] Counties.
[[Image:Confederate statue in Belton, TX IMG 2405.JPG|thumb|<span style="font-size:100%;">[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] statue at Bell County Courthouse</span>]]

In 1861, the county voted for [[Texas in the American Civil War|secession]] from the Union.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" /> Residents were divided, as many [[Yeoman#Yeoman farmer|yeomen farmers]] did not support the war. From 1862 to 1865, Union sympathizers and Confederate deserters holed up in "Camp Safety".<ref name="Bell County, Texas" /> Following the war, new social movements developed. In 1867, the Belton Women's Commonwealth, the first women's movement in Central Texas, was formed by [[Martha McWhirter]]. The group provided [[Women's shelter|shelter to women]] in [[domestic abuse|abusive relationships]].<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />

During the early years of the [[Reconstruction era]] (1865–1877), so much violence occurred in the county that the government stationed federal troops in Belton. Some racist whites attacked blacks and their white supporters. Corruption, lawlessness, and racial divides were severe. As in many areas, a local version of white [[paramilitary]] [[insurgent]]s developed who were similar to the [[Ku Klux Klan]]; they worked to suppress black and Republican voting.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />

The coming of railroads in the late 19th century stimulated growth across the state. In 1881, the [[Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway]], the first railroad to be built in Bell County, established [[Temple, Texas|Temple]] as its headquarters.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" /> Reflecting growth in the county, in 1884, the Bell County Courthouse was built. It is still used. The ambitious [[Renaissance Revival]] design was by architect Jasper N. Preston and Sons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bell County Courthouse |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Belton_Texas/Bell-County-Courthouse-Belton-Texas.htm |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Texas Escapes |publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC}}</ref> As another improvement, in 1905, the Belton and Temple Interurban electric railway was completed, providing service between the cities.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />

During the 1920s, the [[Ku Klux Klan]] underwent a revival in Bell County. In many areas, it was concentrated on nativist issues, opposing Catholic and Jewish immigration from eastern and southern Europe. After a scandal involving the leader of the KKK, the group's influence declined markedly by the end of the decade.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />

In 1925, [[Miriam A. Ferguson]], a native of the county, was inaugurated as the first woman governor of the state.<ref name="Miriam Ferguson">{{Cite web |last=Huddleston |first=John |title=Miriam Ferguson |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffe06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221145625/http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffe06 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref> She won re-election in 1932 for a nonconsecutive second term.<ref name="Miriam Ferguson" />

The county and state supported founding [[Temple College|Temple Junior College]] in 1926. The entry of the [[United States in World War II]] stimulated war spending across the country. In 1942, [[Fort Hood]] was opened as a military training base. It drew recruits from across the country.<ref name="Bell County, Texas" />

The postwar period was one of suburbanization in many areas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' that racial segregation in public schools, supported by all the taxpayers, was unconstitutional. Two years later, the Killeen school board voted to [[School integration in the United States|integrate]] the local high school. .<ref name="Killeen, Texas">{{Cite web |last=Leffler |first=John |title=Killeen, Texas |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hdk01 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |website=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>

The state founded [[Central Texas College]] in 1965 in Killeen.<ref name="Killeen, Texas" />

Since the late 20th century, new retail development has taken the form of large malls. In 1976, [[Temple Mall]] opened.<ref name="Temple Mall">{{Cite web |title=Temple Mall |url=http://urbanretail.com/regional/Temple_Mall_FS_2012_web.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317044400/http://urbanretail.com/regional/Temple_Mall_FS_2012_web.pdf |archive-date=March 17, 2013 |access-date=December 31, 2011 |website=Urban Retail Properties}}</ref> By 1980, [[Killeen, Texas|Killeen]] became the most populous city in Bell County.<ref name="Killeen, Texas" /> The following year, the [[Killeen Mall]] opened, adding to retail choices in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2010 |title=Killeen Mall |url=http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/Lists/PropertiesList/Attachments/9574/Killeen_Mall_Fact_Sheet.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030835/http://www.joneslanglasalle.com/Lists/PropertiesList/Attachments/9574/Killeen_Mall_Fact_Sheet.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |access-date=March 25, 2010 |publisher=Jones Lang Lasalle}}</ref> In another type of development, the [[Bell County Expo Center]] opened in 1987.

Since the late 20th century, the county has been the site of several [[Violent crime|Violent Incidents]]. On October 16, 1991, in the [[Luby's shooting]], George Hennard murdered 23 people and wounded 27 others before killing himself. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodbury |first=Richard |date=October 28, 1991 |title=Crime: Ten Minutes in Hell |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974133,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408193338/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,974133,00.html |archive-date=April 8, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2018 |website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> On June 21st, 1999, [[Brandon Bernard]] and four accomplices kidnapped and murdered youth pastors Todd and Stacie Bagley near [[Killeen, Texas]]. The ringleader, Christopher Vialva, shot the couple before Bernard set their car on fire. Their bodies were found in [[Belton Lake]]. Vialva was sentenced to death, and Bernard, also sentenced to death, was executed in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2020/12/11/todd-stacie-bagley-iowa-couple-killed-brandon-bernard-execution/3893292001/|title=Todd and Stacie Bagley: What we know about the Iowa couple killed in Brandon Bernard's case|first=Robin|last=Opsahl|website=The Des Moines Register}}</ref> In the [[2009 Fort Hood shooting]], [[Major (United States)|Army major]] [[Nidal Hasan]] murdered 13 people and wounded 30 others before being paralyzed in return fire.<ref name="CNN20130806">{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Josh |date=August 6, 2013 |title='I am the shooter,' Nidal Hasan tells Fort Hood court-martial |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/justice/hasan-court-martial/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928010913/http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/justice/hasan-court-martial/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 |archive-date=September 28, 2017 |access-date=August 7, 2013 |website=CNN}}</ref> In the [[2014 Fort Hood shootings]], Army Specialist Ivan Lopez murdered three people and wounded 16 others.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 2, 2014 |title=Shooter reported dead at Fort Hood, 14 others injured |url=http://www.kvue.com/news/Fort-Hood-confirms-incident-on-post-253635941.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405033918/http://www.kvue.com/news/Fort-Hood-confirms-incident-on-post-253635941.html |archive-date=April 5, 2014 |access-date=April 2, 2014 |work=[[KVUE (Texas)|KVUE]]}}</ref> On May 3, 2022, a stabbing at [[Belton High School (Texas)|Belton High School]] by a fellow student left 18-year-old Jose Luis "Joe" Ramirez Jr. critically injured. He later died from complications in a local hospital. The suspect, Caysen Tyler Allison, was arrested and charged.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kxxv.com/hometown/bell-county/parents-react-to-stabbing-at-belton-high-school-which-took-one-students-life|title=Parents react to fatal Belton High School stabbing|date=May 4, 2022|website=25 News KXXV and KRHD}}</ref> On December 21, 2024, John Darrel Schultz, 53, drove a pickup truck through the outside entrance of the [[JCPenney|JCPenney store]] at the [[Killeen Mall]] during a police chase, striking five people inside before being fatally shot by officers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/killeen-texas-mall-shooting-c0675243b3d3d6125881bb2131534b31|title=Pickup truck driver killed by police after driving through busy mall store is identified|date=December 22, 2024|website=AP News}}</ref>