Editing Waco, Texas (section)

==History==
{{For timeline|Timeline of Waco, Texas}}

===1824–1865===
[[Indigenous peoples]] occupied areas along the river for thousands of years. In historic times, the area of present-day Waco was occupied by the [[Wichita people|Wichita]] [[Native Americans of the United States|Indian]] tribe known as the "[[Waco tribe|Waco]]" (Spanish: ''Hueco'' or ''Huaco'').

In 1824, Thomas M. Duke was sent to explore the area after violence erupted between the Waco people and the European settlers.
His report to [[Stephen F. Austin]], described the Waco village:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://digitalaustinpapers.org/document?id=APB0790 |title=Thomas M. Duke to Stephen F. Austin, 06-xx-1824 |website=Digital Austin Papers |language=en |access-date=April 30, 2019 }}</ref>
{{blockquote | This town is situated on the West Bank of the [[Brazos River|river]]. They have a spring almost as cold as ice itself. All we want is some Brandy and Sugar to have Ice Toddy. They have about {{convert|400|acre|km2}} planted in corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons and that tended in good order. I think they cannot raise more than One Hundred Warriors. |Thomas M. Duke|source=Stephen F. Austin Papers}}

After further violence, Austin halted an attempt to destroy their village in retaliation. In 1825, he made a treaty with them.
The Waco were eventually pushed out of the region, settling north near present-day [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]]. In 1872, they were moved onto a reservation in [[Oklahoma]] with other Wichita tribes. In 1902, the Waco received allotments of land and became official US citizens.
[[Neil McLennan]] settled in an area near the South [[Bosque River]] in 1838.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc89 |title=McClennan, Neil |first=Longwell, Evelyn |last=Clark |date=June 15, 2010 |website=www.tshaonline.org }}</ref> [[Jacob De Cordova]] bought McLennan's property<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fde03 |title=De Cordova, Jacob Raphael |first=Ornish |last=Natalie |date=June 12, 2010 |website=www.tshaonline.org }}</ref> and hired a former [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] and surveyor named [[George B. Erath]] to inspect the area.<ref name=erath1>{{Cite book |last=Erath |first=Lucy |title=The Memoirs of Major George B. Erath |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=[[Austin, Texas|Austin]], Texas |year=1923 }}</ref> In 1849, Erath designed the first block of the city. Property owners wanted to name the city Lamartine, but Erath convinced them to name the area Waco Village, after the Indians who had lived there.<ref name=kelley12>{{Cite book |last=Kelley |first=Dayton |title=Waco, & McLennan County, Texas: 1876 |publisher=Texian Press |location=Waco, Texas |year=1966 |page=12 }}</ref> In March 1849, Shapley Prince Ross, the father of future Governor [[Lawrence Sullivan Ross]], built the first house in Waco, a double-log cabin, on a bluff overlooking the springs. His daughter Kate was the first settler child born in Waco. Because of this, Ross is considered to have been the founder of Waco, Texas.<ref name=davis151>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Joe Tom |title=Legendary Texians, Vol. 4 |publisher=Eakin Press |location=[[Austin, Texas|Austin]], Texas |year=1989 |isbn=0890156697 |page=151 }}</ref>

===1866–1900===
[[File:Old map-Waco-1886.jpg|thumb|left|Waco in 1886]]
[[File:Suspension Bridge, Waco, Texas.jpg|thumb|left|Suspension Bridge, Waco, Texas]]

In 1866, Waco's leading citizens embarked on an ambitious project to build the first bridge to span the wide [[Brazos River]]. They formed the Waco Bridge Company to build the {{convert|475|ft|m|adj=on}} brick [[Waco Suspension Bridge]], which was completed in 1870. The company commissioned a firm owned by [[John Augustus Roebling]] in [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]], New Jersey, to supply the bridge's cables and steelwork and contracted with Mr. Thomas M. Griffith, a civil engineer based in New York, for the supervisory engineering work.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roger |first=Conger |title=The Waco Suspension Bridge |year=1992 |publisher=Friends of the Texas Ranger Library |page=224 }}</ref> The economic effects of the Waco bridge were immediate and large. The cowboys and cattle-herds following the [[Chisholm Trail]] north, crossed the Brazos River at Waco. Some chose to pay the Suspension Bridge toll, while others floated their herds down the river. The population of Waco grew rapidly, as immigrants now had a safe crossing for their horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Since 1971, the bridge has been open only to pedestrian traffic and is in the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

Waco was the original intended western terminus of the [[Texas and St. Louis Railway]], with the town having been reached in 1881.<ref name=Rails>{{cite web |url=https://www.american-rails.com/cotton.html |title=St. Louis Southwestern Railway, "The Cotton Belt Route" |publisher=American-Rails, June 12, 2023 |access-date=October 8, 2023 }}</ref>  However, the line was extended further west to [[Gatesville, Texas|Gatesville]] a year later.<ref name=TSL>{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-and-st-louis-railway |title=Texas and St. Louis Railway |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 8, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/gatesville-tx |title=Gatesville, TX |publisher=Texas State Historical Society |access-date=October 8, 2023 }}</ref>  This trackage later became the core of the [[St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company]], commonly known as the Cotton Belt.<ref name=Museum>{{cite web |url=https://arkansasrailroadmuseum.org/about/cotton-belt-route.html |title=St. Louis Southwestern Railroad History |publisher=Arkansas Railroad Museum |access-date=October 5, 2023 }}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:ChisholmWaco.jpg|thumb|A Waco Statue paying tribute to the [[Chisholm Trail]]]] -->
In the late 19th century, a [[red-light district]] called the "Reservation" grew up in Waco, and prostitution was regulated by the city. The Reservation was suppressed in the early 20th century. In 1885, the soft drink [[Dr Pepper]] was invented in Waco at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Samara |date=April 13, 2020 |title=Made in Texas: The man who created Dr Pepper wanted his drink to smell like a drug store he liked |url=https://www.click2houston.com/features/2020/04/13/made-in-texas-the-man-who-created-dr-pepper-wanted-his-drink-to-smell-like-a-drug-store-he-liked/ |access-date=January 17, 2021 |website=KPRC |language=en }}</ref>

In 1845, [[Baylor University]] was founded in [[Independence, Texas|Independence]], Texas. It moved to Waco in 1886 and merged with Waco University, becoming an integral part of the city. The university's Strecker Museum was also the oldest continuously operating museum in the state until it closed in 2003, and the collections moved to the new [[Mayborn Museum Complex]]. In 1873, AddRan College was founded by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark in Fort Worth. The school moved to Waco in 1895, changing its name to Add-Ran Christian University and taking up residence in the empty buildings of Waco Female College. Add-Ran changed its name to [[Texas Christian University]] in 1902 and left Waco after the school's main building burned down in 1910.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Waters |first=Rick |date=March 1, 2010 |title=A fateful fire |url=https://magazine.tcu.edu/spring-2010/a-fateful-fire/ |access-date=January 17, 2021 |website=TCU Magazine |language=en }}</ref> TCU was offered a {{convert|50|acre|m2|adj=on}} campus and $200,000 by the city of Fort Worth to relocate there.<ref name=":0" />

[[Racial segregation]] was common in Waco. For example, [[Greenwood Cemetery (Waco)|Greenwood Cemetery]] was established in the 1870s as a segregated burial place. Black graves were divided from white ones by a fence which remained standing until 2016.<ref name="Strouse">{{cite web |url=https://wacohistory.org/items/show/164 |title=Greenwood Cemetery |first1=Dalton |last1=Strouse |first2=Amanda |last2=Sawyer |website=Waco History |access-date=July 10, 2021 |quote= }}</ref>

[[File:Dr Pepper Museum.jpg|thumb|The [[Dr Pepper Museum]] is one of Waco's tourist attractions.]]

In the 1890s, [[William Cowper Brann]] published the highly successful ''Iconoclast'' newspaper in Waco. One of his targets was Baylor University. Brann revealed Baylor officials had been trafficking South American children recruited by missionaries and making house-servants out of them. Brann was shot in the back by Tom Davis, a Baylor supporter. Brann then wheeled, drew his pistol, and killed Davis. Brann was helped home by his friends, and died there of his wounds.

In 1894, the first Cotton Palace fair and exhibition center was built to reflect the dominant contribution of the agricultural cotton industry in the region. Since the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], cotton had been cultivated in the Brazos and Bosque valleys, and Waco had become known nationwide as a top producer. Over the next 23 years, the annual exposition would welcome over eight million attendees. The opulent building which housed the month-long exhibition was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1910. In 1931, the exposition fell prey to the [[Great Depression]], and the building was torn down. However, the annual Cotton Palace Pageant continues, hosted in late April in conjunction with the Brazos River Festival.

===20th century===

[[File:Steel Bridge, Waco, Texas.jpg|thumb|[[Washington Avenue Bridge (Waco, Texas)|Washington Avenue Bridge]] (postcard, {{circa|1908}}), built in 1902, it was the longest single-span steel bridge in the world.]]

An African American man named Sank Majors was hanged from the [[Washington Avenue Bridge (Waco, Texas)|Washington Avenue Bridge]] by a white mob in 1905. Another man, Jim Lawyer, was attacked with a whip because he objected to the [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]]. In both cases the mob was assisted by [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]].<ref name="Minutaglio">{{cite book |last=Minutaglio |first=Bill |date=2021 |author-link=Bill Minutaglio |title=A Single Star and Bloody Knuckles: A History of Politics and Race in Texas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYcHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |location= |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=77 |isbn=978-1477310366 }}</ref>

[[File:Lynching of Jesse Washington, 1916 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Lynching of Jesse Washington]] in Waco on May 15, 1916. He was repeatedly lowered and raised onto a fire for about two hours.]]
In 1916, a Black teenager named [[Jesse Washington]] was tortured, mutilated, and burned to death in the town square by a [[Ochlocracy|mob]] that seized him from the courthouse, where he had been convicted of murdering his employer Lucy Fryer, to which he confessed. About 15,000 spectators, mostly citizens of Waco, were present. The commonly named [[Waco Horror]] drew international condemnation and became the ''[[cause célèbre]]'' of the nascent [[NAACP]]'s anti-[[lynching]] campaign. In 2006, the Waco City Council officially condemned the lynching, which took place without opposition from local political or judicial leaders; the mayor and chief of police were spectators. On the centenary of the lynching, May 15, 2016, the mayor apologized in a ceremony to some of Washington's descendants. A historical marker is being erected.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Andrew |last1=Lichtenstein |first2=Alex |last2=Lichtenstein |title=Marked Unmarked Remembered. A Geography of American Memory |publisher=[[West Virginia University Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=978-1943665891 |page=136 }}</ref>

In the 1920s, despite the popularity of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and high numbers of lynchings throughout Texas, Waco's authorities attempted to respond to the NAACP's campaign and institute more protections for African Americans or others threatened with mob violence and lynching.<ref name=bern>{{cite book |first=Patricia |last=Bernstein |title=The First Waco Horror |place=College Station |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2005 |pages=185–91 }}</ref> On May 26, 1922, [[Lynching of Jesse Thomas|Jesse Thomas was shot]], his body dragged down Franklin street by a crowd some 6,000 strong and the corpse then burned in the public square behind city hall.<ref>{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|''The Dallas Express'', June 3,|1922}} |date=June 3, 1922 |title=Suspect Killed; Waco mob burns body |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025779/1922-06-03/ed-1/seq-1/# |newspaper=[[Dallas Express|The Dallas Express]] |publisher=W.E. King |location=Dallas, Houston, Texas |issn=2331-334X |oclc=9839625 |pages=1–8 |access-date=March 6, 2022 }}</ref> In 1923, Waco's sheriff Leslie Stegall protected [[Execution of Roy Mitchell|Roy Mitchell]], an African American coerced into confessing to multiple murders, from mob lynching. Mitchell was the last Texan to be publicly executed in Texas, and also the last to be hanged before the introduction of the electric chair.<ref name=bern /> In the same year, the [[Texas Legislature]] created the Tenth Civil Court of Appeals and placed it in Waco; it is now known as the [[Texas Courts of Appeals|10th Court of Appeals]].

In 1937, Grover C. Thomsen and R. H. Roark created a soft-drink called "Sun Tang Red Cream Soda". This would become known as the soft drink [[Big Red (drink)|Big Red]].

On May 5, 1942, Waco Army Air Field opened as a basic pilot training school, and on June 10, 1949, the name was changed to [[James Connally Air Force Base|Connally Air Force Base]] in memory of Col. James T. Connally, a local pilot killed in Japan in 1945. The name changed again in 1951 to the James Connally Air Force Base. The base closed in May 1966 and is now the location of [[Texas State Technical College]], formerly Texas State Technical Institute, since 1965. The airfield is still in operation, now known as [[TSTC Waco Airport]], and was used by [[Air Force One]] when former US president [[George W. Bush]] visited his [[Prairie Chapel Ranch]], also known as the [[Western White House]], in [[Crawford, Texas|Crawford]], Texas.

In 1951, Harold Goodman founded the [[American Income Life Insurance Company]].

[[File:WacoAlamoPlaza1938.jpg|thumb|[[Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts|Alamo Plaza Courts]], tourist apartments, Waco {{circa|1939}}]]
On May 11, 1953, a [[1953 Waco tornado outbreak|violent F5 tornado hit downtown Waco]], killing 114.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pohlen |first=Jerome |title=Oddball Texas: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPJ_0i9zNS8C&pg=PA164 |year=2006 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1569764725 |page=164 }}</ref> As of 2011, it remains the [[Tornado records|11th-deadliest tornado]] in U.S. history and tied for the deadliest in Texas state history.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tornadoproject.com/toptens/topten3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203152517/http://www.tornadoproject.com/toptens/topten3.htm |url-status=dead |title=Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes<!-- Bot generated title --> |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |access-date=March 5, 2023 }}</ref> It was the first tornado tracked by radar and helped spur the creation of a nationwide storm surveillance system. A granite monument featuring the names of those killed was placed downtown in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=20040627&id=d0ZTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eIUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7025,6316804 |title=Twister Memorial to be Displayed |newspaper=The Victoria Advocate |date=June 27, 2004 }}</ref>

In 1964, the [[Texas Department of Public Safety]] designated Waco as the site for the state-designated official museum of the legendary [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Rangers]] law enforcement agency founded in 1823. In 1976, it was further designated the official Hall of Fame for the Rangers and renamed the [[Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum]]. Renovations by the Waco government earned this building green status, the first Waco government-led project of its nature. The construction project has fallen under scrutiny for expanding the building over unmarked human graves.

In 1978, bones were discovered emerging from the mud at the confluence of the Brazos and [[Bosque River]]s. Excavations revealed the bones were 68,000 years old and belonged to a species of [[mammoth]]. Eventually, the remains of at least 24 mammoths, one camel, and one large cat were found at the site, making it one of the largest findings of its kind. Scholars have puzzled over why such a large herd had been killed at once. The bones are on display at the [[Waco Mammoth National Monument]], part of the [[National Park Service]].

[[File:Branch Davidian Compound in Flames.jpg|thumb|The [[Mount Carmel Center]] burning on April 19, 1993]]

====Waco siege====
{{Main|Waco siege}}
On February 28, 1993, a [[shootout]] occurred in which six [[Branch Davidians]] and four agents of the United States [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms]] died. After 51 days, on April 19, 1993, the standoff ended when the Branch Davidians' facility, referred to as [[Mount Carmel Center|Mt. Carmel]], was set ablaze, thirteen miles from Waco.<ref name="The Waco tragedy, explained">{{cite web |title=The Waco tragedy, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/19/17246732/waco-tragedy-explained-david-koresh-mount-carmel-branch-davidian-cult-25-year-anniversary |date=April 19, 2018 }}</ref> 74 people, including leader [[David Koresh]], died in the blaze.

===21st century===
During the presidency of [[George W. Bush]], Waco was the home to the White House Press Center. The press center provided briefing and office facilities for the press corps whenever Bush visited his "[[Western White House]]" [[Prairie Chapel Ranch]] near [[Crawford, Texas|Crawford]], about {{convert|25|mi|km}} northwest of Waco.

On May 17, 2015, a [[2015 Waco shootout|violent dispute among rival biker gangs]] broke out at Twin Peaks restaurant. The Waco police intervened, with nine dead and 18 injured in the incident. More than 170 were arrested.<ref>{{Cite web |title=9 Dead, 192 Charged in Waco Biker Gang Shooting |date=May 17, 2015 |url=http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Waco-Police-Investigate-Multiple-Fatal-Shootings-304048131.html |access-date=May 18, 2015 }}</ref> No bystanders, Twin Peak employees, or officers were killed. This was the most high-profile criminal incident since the Waco siege, and the deadliest shootout in the city's history.