Editing Waco, Texas (section)

===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.