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Waco, Texas |
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For the Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas, see .
For other uses of "Waco", see Waco (disambiguation).
The city is the fly-in point for George W. Bush for his visits to his Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford and support personnel and reporters stay in the city's hotels. It is the home of Baylor University. The Dr. Pepper soft drink (originally called "Waco") was established here. The city's name is also applied to a high-profile 1993 siege, despite it having taken place outside the city limits. History1824-1865Prior to the founding of the town, a Wichita Native American group known as the "Waco" or "Hueco" lived on the land of contemporary downtown Waco west of the Brazos River. In 1824, on an expedition to the Waco village, Thomas M. Duke reported the following to Stephen F. Austin: "This town is situated on the West Bank of the River about half a mile from the 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 four hundred acres planted in corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons and that tended in good order. I think they cannot raise more than One Hundred Warriors." After Austin aborted the first attempt to destroy their village in 1825, he made a treaty with them. The Wacos were soon forced to abandon their village due to an invasion in 1830 by the Cherokee (who had been pushed westward in previous decades by colonization), and they moved upstream to what is now Palo Pinto County (west of Fort Worth).Neil McLennan settled in an area near the South Bosque River in 1838.[3] Jacob De Cordova bought McLennan's property[4] and hired a former Texas Ranger and surveyor named George B. Erath to inspect the area.[5] 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, in honor of the Native Americans who had lived there. In March 1849, Shapley Ross built the first house in Waco, a double-log cabin on a bluff overlooking the springs. His daughter Kate soon became the first white child to be born in Waco.[6] 1866-1900In 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 475-foot brick Waco Suspension Bridge, which was called the longest span of any bridge west of the Mississippi River when completed in 1870. The company commissioned a firm owned by John Augustus Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey to supply the cables and steelwork for the bridge, which was a pioneering engineering feat of the era. Roebling's firm began work on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1870. The economic effects of the Waco bridge were immediate and large, attracting cattle runs from the nearby Chisholm Trail and increasing the population of the city, as immigrants now had a safe passage for their horse drawn carriages to cross the river. Since 1971, the bridge is now open only to pedestrian traffic and is on the National Register of Historic Places.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. TCU was offered a 50-acre campus and $200,000 by the city of Fort Worth to relocate there. In the late 1800s a red light district called the "Reservation" grew up in Waco. Prostitution was regulated by the city. The Reservation was abolished in the early 1900s. In 1885, the soft drink Dr Pepper was invented in Waco at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store. In 1845, Baylor University was founded in Independence, Texas, making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of 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 were moved to the new Mayborn Museum Complex. In the 1890s, William Cowper Brann published the highly successful Iconoclast newspaper in Waco. One of his targets was Baylor University. Brann revealed that Baylor officials had been importing 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 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 Civil War, cotton had been cultivated in the Brazos and Bosque valleys, and Waco became 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 to the present day, hosted in late April in conjunction with the Brazos River Festival. On September 15, 1896 "The Crash at Crush" took place about 15 miles north of Waco. "The Crash at Crush" was a publicity stunt done by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad company(known as M-K-T or "Katy") featured two locomotives intentionally set on a head-on collision. Meant to be a family fun event with food, games and entertainment, the Crash turned deadly when both boilers exploded simultaneously, sending metal flying in the air. Two people died and six were seriously injured. Waco History Project 1901-Present![]() George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Barney (dog) switch from Marine One to Air Force One at TSTC Waco Airport In 1923, the Texas Legislature created the Tenth Civil Court of Appeals and placed it in Waco. Today it is known as the 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 later become known as the soft 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 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 and is currently used by Air Force One when US President George W. Bush visits his Prairie Chapel Ranch, also known as the Western White House, in Crawford, Texas. On May 11, 1953, a tornado hit downtown Waco, killing 114. As of 2007, it remains the tenth deadliest tornado in U.S. history and tied for the deadliest in Texas state history.[2] In 1964 the Texas Department of Public Safety designated Waco as the site for the state-designated official museum of the legendary 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. In 1978, bones were discovered emerging from the mud at the confluence of the Brazos River and the Bosque River. Subsequent excavations revealed that the bones were 28,000 years old and belonged to a species of mammoth. Eventually, the remains of at least 28 mammoths were found at the site, making it one of the largest findings of its kind in the world. Scholars have puzzled over why such a large herd had been killed all at once. On February 28 1993 there was a shoot out in which six Davidians and four agents of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) died. After 51 days on April 19, 1993 a standoff between FBI agents and Branch Davidians ended in a fire that destroyed their compound located in Mt. Carmel, near Waco. Seventy-four people, including leader David Koresh, died in the blaze. In 1999, a charter school called the Emma L. Harrison Charter School was closed by the Texas Education Agency; the school was the first charter school which had its charter revoked in Texas.[7] Since the 2000 presidential election, Waco has been home to the various news bureaus covering the Western White House in Crawford, home of US President George W. Bush. Crawford is an outlying McLennan County community about 20 miles west of Waco. Geography and ClimateWaco is located at 31°33'5" North, 97°9'21" West (31.551516, -97.155930).GR1According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 247.4 km² (95.5 mi²). 218.1 km² (84.2 mi²) of it is land and 29.3 km² (11.3 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 11.85% water.
DemographicsAs of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 113,726 people in the city, organized into 42,279 households and 24,775 families. The population density is 521.5/km² (1,350.6/mi²). There are 45,819 housing units at an average density of 210.1/km² (544.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 60.78% White, 22.65% African American, 1.38% Asian, 0.51% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 12.38% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. 23.64% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.There are 42,279 households out of which 29.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% are married couples living together, 16.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% are non-families. 31.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.49 and the average family size is 3.19. In the city the population is spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 20.3% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 16.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.3 males. The median income for a household in the city is $26,264, and the median income for a family is $33,919. Males have a median income of $26,902 versus $21,159 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,584. 26.3% of the population and 19.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 30.9% of those under the age of 18 and 13.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Downtown
Downtown Waco is small compared to most other cities, such as Dallas or Houston, however, each day 17,000 people commute to work in downtown. Downtown Waco was built around the Waco Suspension Bridge, which was a crucial crossing of the Brazos River. In May 1953, the worst tornado in Texas history struck downtown Waco killing 114, and injuring hundreds. It caused millions of dollars in damage, and dented Waco's economy for years to come. Downtown Waco is mainly known for the ALICO tower, which was completed in 1910, and was once the tallest structure in the Southwest. Downtown Waco is now the location of the famous Dr Pepper Museum, where Dr Pepper was first invented, and the McLennan County Courthouse. For the past few decades, Downtown Waco has slowly been decaying as Waco grew to the West away from Downtown. But recently Waco's city leaders have been taking strides into making Downtown Waco the city center again. There are two projects currently being worked on in Heritage Square, which takes up two blocks in downtown, between 3rd and 4th streets and Washington Avenue and Franklin Avenue. The first project is the new Chamber of Commerce of Waco, which will be an environment-friendly building. The second project, which is expected to break ground in the fall of 2007, is a mixed-use development with commercial and residential buildings. There are also other projects being talked about by the public. EducationWaco Independent School District serves most of the city of Waco. However, Midway ISD and La Vega ISD also serve parts of Waco. There are three main high schools in Waco: Waco High, Midway High, and University High. The schools are all major rivals in sports, academics and pride. In addition to the public school systems in Waco, there are also many private and parochial schools in and around Waco, such as Vanguard College Preparatory School and Reicher Catholic High School.There are also three universities/colleges in Waco. Baylor University is the oldest and largest baptist university in the world. Colleges and Universities
AttractionsMajor Waco attractions include:
Professional sportsThe Waco Thunder is a semi-pro sports football team, competing in the Texas United Football League. The league consists of over 32 teams all over the state of Texas. The 2007 Season was the Thunder's inaugural season, played in the spring. The Thunder play their home games at Texas Christians Academy's Stars Field located off of Bagby Ave. The team is owned and operated by Jason Turnbo. The Head Coach is Dennis Bates. The primary goal of the Thunder is to provide players a Second Chance with their football career to obtain a pro contract or a college scholarship. In the Thunder inaugural season 2 players accomplished what they set out for and got picked up by colleges - Adrian Porter (Mexia High School) & Edmond Roberts (Connally High School). The Thunder has players from all over Central Texas on the roster including local standouts John Henry (Lorena/Baylor), Freddie Rollins (McGregor/UMHB), Richard White(Waco High), Josh Williams (Waco High), Steve Schroeder (China Spring) Greg Washington (Mexia) those just to name a few. The Thunder also has a Cheerleading Squad, directed by Rebecca Turnbo.The American Basketball Association has announced an expansion franchise for the 2006-2007 season, the Waco Wranglers. The team is scheduled to begin play in November 2006 at Reicher Catholic High School. The team practices at Texas State Technical College. Previous professional sports franchises in Waco have proven unsuccessful. The Waco Marshals of the National Indoor Football League lasted less than two months amidst a midseason ownership change in 2004. (The team became the beleaguered Cincinnati Marshals the following year.) The Waco Wizards of the now-defunct Western Professional Hockey League fared better, lasting into a fourth season before folding in 2000. Both teams played at the Heart O' Texas Coliseum, one of Waco's largest entertainment and sports venues. Professional baseball first came to Waco in 1889 with the formation of the Waco Tigers, a member of the Texas League. The Tigers were renamed in 1905 to the Navigators, and later to the Steers. In 1920, the team was sold to Wichita Falls. In 1923, a new franchise called the Indians was formed in Waco and was a member of the Class D Texas Association. In 1925, Waco rejoined the Texas League with the formation of the Waco Cubs. On June 20, 1930, the first night game in Texas League history was played at Katy Park in Waco. The lights were generously donated by Waco resident, Charles Redding Turner who owned a local farm team for recruits to the Chicago Cubs. On the night of August 6, 1930, baseball history was made at Katy Park: in the eighth inning of a night game against Beaumont, Waco left fielder Gene Rye became the only player in the history of professional baseball to hit three home runs in one inning. 1930 was the last year that Waco had a team in the Texas League, but Waco fielded some strong semi-pro teams in the 1930s and early 1940s. During the World War II years of 1943-45, the powerful Waco Army Air Field team was probably the best in the state; many major leaguers played for the team, and it was managed by big league catcher Birdie Tebbetts. In 1947, the Class B Big State League was organized with Waco as a member called The Waco Dons. In 1948, A.H. Kirksey, owner of Katy Park, persuaded the Pittsburgh Pirates Professional club to take over the Waco operation and the nickname was changed to Pirates. The Pirates vaulted into third place in 1948. They dropped a notch to fourth in 1949, but prevailed in the playoffs to win the league championship. The Pirates then tumbled into the second division, bottoming out with a dreadful 29-118, 0.197 club in 1952. This mark ranks as one of the 10 worst marks of any 20th century full-season team. When the tornado struck in 1953, it destroyed the park. The team relocated to Longview to finish the season and finished a respectable third with a 77-68 record. People with Waco tiesSee also: Baylor University: Notable AlumniSports
Movies
Music
Politics
Other
See also
References1. ^ www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2005-04-48.xls. 2. ^ www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metro_general/2006/CBSA-EST2006-01.xls. 3. ^ www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/fmc89.html. 4. ^ www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/DD/fde3.html. 5. ^ www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/EE/fer1.html. 6. ^ Davis, Joe Tom (1989), Legendary Texians, Vol. 4, Austin, Texas: Eakin Press, pp. 151, ISBN 0890156697 7. ^ 64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:UojdMaz2cW4J:www.texasmonthly.com/preview/1999-12-01/education+Texas+Education+Agency+revoke+charter&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7. External links
Waco may refer to multiple places in the United States of America:
..... Click the link for more information. State of Texas Flag of Texas Seal Nickname(s): Lone Star State Motto(s): Friendship. Before Statehood Known as The Republic of Texas Official language(s) No official language ..... Click the link for more information. country, state, and nation can have various meanings. Therefore, diverse lists of these entities are possible. Wikipedia offers the following lists:
Motto "In God We Trust" (since 1956) "E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional) Anthem ..... Click the link for more information. United States of America This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the United States Federal government Constitution Taxation President Vice President Cabinet Congress Senate ..... Click the link for more information. State of Texas Flag of Texas Seal Nickname(s): Lone Star State Motto(s): Friendship. Before Statehood Known as The Republic of Texas Official language(s) No official language ..... Click the link for more information. ..... Click the link for more information. McLennan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 213,517; in 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population to be 223,567. Its seat is Waco6. The county is named for Neil McLennan, an early settler. ..... Click the link for more information. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "larger", "greater") is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer. In many systems, the mayor is an elected politician who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of ..... Click the link for more information. Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object. UnitsUnits for measuring surface area include:
..... Click the link for more information. city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town. City is primarily used to designate an urban settlement with a large population. However, city may also indicate a special administrative, legal, or historical status. ..... Click the link for more information. square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared. ..... Click the link for more information. Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
..... Click the link for more information. elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height ..... Click the link for more information. 1 foot = A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′SI units 0 m 0 mm US customary / Imperial units 0 yd 0 in ..... Click the link for more information. 1 metre = The metre or meter[1](symbol: m) is the fundamental unit of length in the International System of Units (SI).SI units 1000 mm 0 cm US customary / Imperial units 0 ft 0 in ..... Click the link for more information. 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century 1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s 2002 2003 2004 - 2005 - 2006 2007 2008 2005 by topic: News by month Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun ..... Click the link for more information. city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town. City is primarily used to designate an urban settlement with a large population. However, city may also indicate a special administrative, legal, or historical status. ..... Click the link for more information. Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular. Biological population densities..... Click the link for more information. metropolitan area is a large population centre consisting of a large metropolis and its adjacent zone of influence, or of more than one closely adjoining neighboring central cities and their zone of influence. ..... Click the link for more information. time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart, and by convention compute their local time as an offset from UTC (see also Greenwich Mean Time). ..... Click the link for more information. Central Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time (UTC−6) and five hours during daylight saving time (UTC−5). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 90th degree meridian west of the Greenwich ..... Click the link for more information. Areas using UTC−6Single zone countries
..... Click the link for more information. Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. ..... Click the link for more information. UTC−5 is the time offset used in the North American Central Time Zone during Daylight Saving Time. For North America see also Eastern Standard Time and Central Daylight Time. ..... Click the link for more information. ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan,[1] ..... Click the link for more information. area code 254 is a state of Texas telephone area code for numbers in the Waco area. It was created May 25, 1997, in a split from area code 817. TriviaBy coincidence, "254" also happens to be a reference to the number of counties Texas has, the most of any state (see list..... Click the link for more information. Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are publicly announced standards developed by the United States Federal government for use by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors. ..... Click the link for more information. The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) contains name and locative information about almost two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its Territories. ..... Click the link for more information. International Phonetic Alphabet Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. The International Phonetic Alphabet History Nonstandard symbols Extended IPA Naming conventions IPA for English The ..... Click the link for more information. This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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WACO, Texas -- While Americans remain highly religious, a Baylor University study has found that their understanding of God's attitude and action in the world vary widely. He also has held site administration posts at the elementary and middle school levels in Waco, Texas. Ruth Pitts, NCTM, a music instructor at McLennan Community College, Waco, Texas, has been active in MTNA for 30 years. |
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