Editing Waskom, Texas (section)

==History==
The city of Waskom was established in 1850 as Powell Town, presumably for Jonathan S. Powell, who owned a land grant in the area.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hjw03|title=WASKOM, TX|last=Lentz|first=Sallie M.|date=2010-06-15|website=Tshaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref> It was founded as a midway point for an east-west ([[Dallas]] to Shreveport) cattle and cotton economic trail to the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] in [[Louisiana]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://cityofwaskom.com/index.php/history/|title=History {{!}} City of Waskom, Texas Official Site|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>

From 1850 to 1872 it had a post office as Powellton. In 1872, it became a main railroad station between Dallas, [[Texarkana metropolitan area|Texarkana]], and Shreveport. The city's named was changed to Waskom Station in 1872 and to Waskom in 1881 after J. M. Waskom, a director of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific Railroad]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

In 2014 and 2015, [[Waskom High School]] won the 3A D2 state title in football.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/sports/waskom-wildcats-wins-back-to-back-state-titles/article_eebafc9a-1621-5c41-9570-37bdb50a32a0.html|title=Waskom Wildcats wins back-to-back state titles|author=Nathan Hague|website=Marshall News Messenger|date=December 19, 2015 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>

In June 2019, the city council voted to outlaw abortion in the city, declaring Waskom a "sanctuary city for the unborn" (the first such city to designate itself as such), as state governments elsewhere in the United States also were drafting abortion bans.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48628224|title=Texas town bans abortion in all-male council vote|date=2019-06-13|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-01-23|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/13/waskom-texas-declared-sanctuary-city-unborn-bans-abortion/1443699001/|title='Sanctuary city for the unborn': All-male city council in Texas town bans most abortions|last=Miller|first=Ryan W.|website=Usatoday.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref> There is currently no abortion clinic in the city.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/13/waksom-texas-outlaws-abortion-five-men/|title=Five men outlaw abortion in a Texas town, declaring a 'sanctuary city for the unborn'|author=Isaac Stanley-Becker|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ksla.com/2019/07/06/abortion-is-freedom-billboards-cause-controversy-waskom-city-declared-act-illegal/|title='Abortion is Freedom' billboards cause controversy in Waskom, city declared the act illegal|last=Hargett|first=Kenley|website=Ksla.com|date=July 6, 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref> The Waskom ordinance has led other small cities in Texas (and, as of April 2021, in Nebraska) to vote in favor of becoming "sanctuary cities for the unborn."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2019/10/01/antiabortion-law-spreads-east-texas/|title=Anti-abortion law spreads in East Texas as "sanctuary city for the unborn" movement expands|author=Emily Wax-Thibodeaux|date=2019-10-01|newspaper=[[The Texas Tribune]]|language=en|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-abortion-city-sanctuary|title=Banning abortion, more Texas towns become 'sanctuary cities for the unborn'|last=Parke|first=Caleb|date=2020-01-16|website=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2020/01/15/three-texas-towns-vote-in-favor-of-sanctuary-cities-for-the-unborn-hoping-to-ban-abortion/|title=Three Texas towns vote in favor of 'sanctuary cities for the unborn,' hoping to ban abortion|last=Walters|first=Edgar|date=2020-01-15|website=Click2houston.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref> In May 2021, [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]] became the largest Texas city to ban abortion following Waskom.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-02|title=Lubbock votes to become largest city in U.S. to ban abortion|url=https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/lubbock-votes-to-become-largest-city-in-u-s-to-ban-abortion/|access-date=2021-05-03|website=KLBK {{!}} KAMC {{!}} EverythingLubbock.com|language=en-US}}</ref>