In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the rise of railroads and industrialization caused significant changes in the business world. The growth of corporations and big businesses led to a greater need for accountants, bookkeepers, corporate bankers, and other financial and administrative professionals. In response to this new demand, business schools teaching the skills necessary to fill these positions began to pop up across the states. Among these was a Waco institution known...| Waco History
Until the 1990s, hockey teams in the South were few and far between. The heat prevalent in the southern states did not exactly lend itself to ice-based sports, leading locals to favor warm-weather sports such as baseball and football. However, the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) expansion teams began to gradually make their way further south throughout the 1990s, spreading a new interest in the sport. In 1993, the expansion reached Texas when the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, be...| Waco History
The rapid rise of migrant labor in Texas in the 1940s brought large numbers of laborers to Waco. To accommodate this new situation, the city of Waco acquired funds to build the Waco Farm Labor Camp, a center where workers could stay and receive aid while following the crops. Although the camp was only in operation for about twenty years, it had a long-lasting impact on the Waco community. The Bracero Program, a program through which American farmers in need of laborers could hire Mexican...| Waco History
Among 1920s literary enthusiasts, Dorothy Scarborough was a familiar name, especially in her home state of Texas and in New York, where she taught at Columbia University. Initially well-known among Baylor University students for her popular English and journalism classes, she gained national prominence after the publication of several of her books—most notably the controversial book The Wind. A trailblazing female scholar, her work spanned from novels to folklore, from short stories to...| Waco History
One of the most popular places to visit on Baylor University’s campus is the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat, home to Baylor’s live bear mascot. The first habitat was built in 1945, but through the years the desire to increase the quality of life for the bears drove the university to rebuild the habitat again and again, until it became the haven it is today. Baylor has had a live bear mascot since 1917. The first live bear mascot, Ted, often called “Bruin,” belonged to a nearby Cam...| Waco History
Nestled behind a bustling area of Waco on Laurel Lake Drive stands a facility called Stilwell Retirement Residence, unique among retirement homes in Waco because of its mission to provide for retired teachers. In the words of Henry W. Stilwell, the residence’s namesake, “We need a quality home for quality people in a city of culture and refinement.” Henry W. Stilwell, who inspired the vision of Stilwell Retirement Residence, dedicated his life to education. In the decade following his...| Waco History
Relocated, dismantled, relocated again, and pieced back together, the Earle-Harrison House has endured more than most historic homes in Waco. Originally built in 1858 for Dr. Baylis Earle and his wife Eliza Harrison Earle, the structure is the only restored antebellum building in Waco. Designed in the Greek Revival style, the Earle-Harrison House has a completely white exterior of pine sheathing with nine cypress columns. Interestingly, the columns only flank the front and side of the house,...| Waco History
Anyone who has attended or visited Baylor University would recognize the familiar spires of Old Main as markers of the historic heart of campus. Built in 1887, Old Main was the first building constructed by Baylor in Waco. Baylor had previously been located at Independence, Texas, but when it moved north and combined with Waco University in 1886, the university needed teaching space. Containing classrooms, offices, laboratories, a studio, a library, a chapel, and even housing Baylor’s radio...| Waco History
Most people have consumed the ingredient xanthan gum many times before, even if it was unknowingly. Xanthan gum is used in a wide variety of products, including gluten-free bread, ice cream, and cough syrup. This mysterious-sounding substance is a thickening agent invented by Dr. Allene Rosalind Jeanes, a nationally renowned chemist born in Waco, and it is only one of her ground-breaking achievements. Born in 1906 and raised in Waco, Allene Jeanes attended Baylor University and graduated with...| Waco History
The Waco Civic Theatre has brought culture and entertainment to the city of Waco for a century. It began as the Waco Little Theatre in 1925. The theater was founded by Mrs. Jean Fort, daughter-in-law of William Fort of the historic Fort House. The Waco Little Theatre performed in a variety of venues with no permanent theater of their own, and in 1936 they disbanded. In 1945, Paul Baker, then chair of the theater department at Baylor University, decided to revive the Waco Little Theatre and...| Waco History
Monroe Alpheus Majors—the first Black Texan to obtain a medical degree—was never content simply to be a pioneer for African Americans in the field of medicine. Throughout his life, he pursued writing, politics, and education, always advocating for racial equality, and making many enemies along the way. Threats of violence or even death haunted him throughout his life due to his political activities, and these threats compelled him to move across the country many times, sometimes spending ...| Waco History
Tony DeMaria’s Bar-B-Que has graced Elm Avenue with its unique style of barbecue for many decades. The restaurant is a family-owned business with a rich history that began with the immigration of the DiMaria family in the late nineteenth century. In 1888, a family of citrus farmers from Poggioreale, Sicily by the name DiMaria arrived in New Orleans. Large numbers of Sicilians immigrated to the US in the 1880s, when economic hardships were not lessened as promised by the unification of Italy...| Waco History
“Tumbleweed Smith,” born Bob Lewis in Waco in 1935, has made a name for himself in broadcasting throughout the state of Texas. Inspired by a tumbleweed that rolled across his West Texas lawn and his mother’s maiden name, he adopted the persona of “Tumbleweed Smith” as a radio host in 1970. Lewis’s big break came in August 1969, when he started his own radio show, The Sound of Texas. Amassing a collection of over 14,000 interviews during his long career, Lewis became the owner of t...| Waco History
Seeking to provide refuge to children and families in need, the Evangelia Settlement Home opened in 1908. Established by religious reformers Ethel Dickson and Nell Symes, the home aimed to care for the least of these throughout Waco’s community for nearly a century. Evangelia Settlement was part of a broader settlement house movement that began in Great Britain and moved to the United States. In the late nineteenth century, white, middle- and upper-class women, often motivated by their...| Waco History
With a bellowing voice and masterful piano playing, Mercy Dee Walton emerged as an early influence in rhythm and blues not only in Waco but across the country. Towering figures such as Ma Rainey and Fats Domino are rightfully remembered as foundational for the blues and later rock n’ roll, but artists with less recording opportunities, like Walton, also shaped the country’s music scene in the early twentieth century. Walton grew up on the water. His parents, Fred and Bessie Walton, worked...| Waco History
Once considered a hub for racist activity, Waco served as headquarters for writer and editor Horace Sherman Miller. An avowed white supremacist, Miller perpetuated and propagated racist ideas in the mid-twentieth century. He printed his newsletter, The Aryan Views—White Folks News, in Waco and circulated the publication across the world from 1950 until his death in 1964. Born in Central Texas in 1901 to Claude Thomas Miller and Lema Yarbro Miller, Horace Sherman Miller grew up in poverty an...| Waco History
Wildlife expert and storyteller Harley Berg provided entertainment for those across Central Texas in the mid-twentieth century. Broadcasting from the local KWTX to the homes of Wacoans, the Harley Berg Show emphasized the importance of wildlife and provided conservation tips. Engrossed by Berg’s animal exhibits and captivating narratives, viewers tuned in weekly to the popular show. Fascinated by wildlife since his youth, Berg enjoyed hunting, fishing, and exploring nature from his family...| Waco History
Prior to the construction of the Grand Lodge of Texas, a freemason-affiliated organization known as the Karem Shriners built the grandiose Karem Shrine Temple at Seventh and Washington. Substantial in size and embellished with Masonic emblems, the building drew in Shriners across Texas and around the country. The Shriners, or the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, originated in New York in the late nineteenth century. The founders, Walter M. Fleming and William J....| Waco History
Urban renewal programs swept across the United States in the mid-twentieth century. Funded by the federal government, cities throughout the country sought to improve local architecture and expand residential areas by purchasing and decimating pre-existing neighborhoods, a process often referred to as “slum clearance.” The City of Waco conducted the largest urban renewal program in the state of Texas. Intending to redesign and improve city infrastructure, local government officials formed ...| Waco History
Without the construction of Waco Hall, Baylor University might reside in Dallas, Texas. In the early 1900s, some Baylor representatives pushed for the university to relocate and had already placed parts of the institution in Dallas, including the newly established medical school. Resisting such a transition, Wacoans banded together to keep the university in the city. Under the auspices of the Waco-Baylor Campaign, community and university leaders introduced a plan titled “Greater Baylor...| Waco History
