Timeline of Waco, Texas

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Waco, Texas, US.

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• 1830 – Hueco village sacked by Cherokees.^[1]
• 1849 – Shapley Ross founds Waco
  • March 1: "First sale of town lots at Waco village."^[2]
• 1850
  • Shapley Ross builds first hotel
  • Shapley Ross becomes first postmaster
  • Brazos River ferry begins operating.^[2]
  • Waco becomes seat of newly established McLennan County, Texas.^[3][4]
• 1851 – Population: 152.^[3]
• 1852 – First Street Cemetery established (approximate date).^[5][6]
• 1854 – Waco Era newspaper begins publication.^[3]
• 1856 – Town of Waco incorporated.^[1]
• 1858 – Southern Democrat newspaper begins publication.^[7][8]
• 1861 – Waco University founded.^[1]
• 1865 – Waco Examiner newspaper begins publication.^[9]
• 1866 – New Hope Baptist Church established.^[5]
• 1870
  • Waco Suspension Bridge opens.^[2]
  • Waco Tap Railroad begins operating.^[10]
  • Population: 3,008.
• 1871 – First Presbyterian Church built.^[5]
• 1872 – Waco and Northwestern Railroad begins operating.^[2][3]
• 1873
  • Fletcher Cemetery established.^[2]
  • Sanger Brothers shop in business.^[10]
• 1877 – Paul Quinn College relocated to Waco from Austin.
• 1878 – Oakwood Cemetery established.^[11]
• 1879 – St. Paul's Episcopal Church rebuilt.^[5]
• 1880 – Population: 7,295.
• 1881 – Rodeph Sholom Synagogue dedicated.^[12]
• 1884
  • Garland Opera House in business.^[13]
  • McClelland Opera House in business (approximate date).^[13][14]
• 1885
  • Slayden-Kirksey Woolen Mill in business.^[15]
  • Baylor University relocated to Waco from Independence.^[1]
  • Flavored beverage "Dr. Pepper first mixed at Old Corner Drug in Waco."^[16]
• 1889 – "Hot artesian water...discovered beneath the city."^[3]
• 1890
  • C.C. McCulloch elected mayor.^[17]
  • Population: 14,445.
• 1892 – Geyser Ice Company in business.^[10]
• 1894 – Cotton Palace Exposition begins.^[10]
• 1895
  • AddRan College relocated to Waco from Thorp Spring.^[1]
  • Floral Society formed.^[18]
• 1897 – Waco Times-Herald newspaper in publication.^[7]
• 1898 – April 1: "Brann-Davis shooting."^[5]
• 1899 – Public library established.^[16]
• 1900 – Population: 20,686.

• 1901 – McLennan County Courthouse built.^{[19][page needed]}
• 1906 – Dr. Pepper bottling plant built.^[19]
• 1910 – Brazos Valley Cotton Oil mill in business.^[10]
• 1911
  • Amicable Life Insurance Co. building constructed.^[19]
  • Farmers' Improvement Bank founded.^[3]
  • Rex Theatre in business.^[20]
• 1912 – Raleigh Hotel built.^[19]
• 1914
  • Hippodrome Theatre opens.^[20][5]
  • Kestner's store in business.^[10]
• 1916 – May 15: Lynching of Jesse Washington.
• 1919 – Elite Cafe in business.^[21][10]
• 1920 – Population: 38,500.
• 1922 – WACO radio begins broadcasting.^[22]
• 1923 – July 30: Execution of Roy Mitchell.
• 1929 – Alamo Plaza Motor Hotel chain in business.
• 1930 – Population: 52,848.
• 1931 – St. Francis Catholic Church built.^[19]
• 1936 – September: Flood.^[10]
• 1937 – Blue Triangle Young Women's Christian Association formed.^[23]
• 1945 – U.S. Veterans Administration Medical Center built.
• 1950 – Population: 84,706.
• 1953 – May: 1953 Waco tornado outbreak.^[24]
• 1955
  • KWTX-TV (television) begins broadcasting.^[25]
  • Cameron Park Zoo established.^[26]
• 1964 – Urban renewal project begins.^[16]
• 1965 – Flood control dam built on Brazos River basin.^[2]
• 1967 – Historic Waco Foundation established.[1]
• 1974 – Oscar De Conge becomes mayor.^[16]
• 1980 – Population: 101,261.
• 1982 – July: 1982 Lake Waco murders.
• 1983 – :Richard Grandy co-founded Easy Gardener Products, Inc.^[27]
• 1993 – February 28 – April 19: Siege of religious Mount Carmel Center near Waco.

• 2010 – Population: city 124,805;^[28] megaregion 19,728,244.^[29]
• 2012 – Malcolm P. Duncan Jr. becomes mayor.^[30]
• 2015 – May 17: 2015 Waco shootout.
• 2016 – Kyle Deaver becomes mayor.
• 2023 – Former president Donald Trump holds the first rally of his successful 2024 presidential campaign.

• Waco, Texas history
• List of mayors of Waco, Texas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in McLennan County, Texas
• Timelines of other cities in Texas: Arlington, Austin, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, San Antonio

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waco, Texas.

• "Waco City Directories, 1878–1923" – via Baylor University. (fulltext)
• "Historical Maps of Texas Cities: Waco". Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection. University of Texas at Austin.
• "Waco". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Austin, TX.
• "'Must Have' Books on Waco History". Waco History Project. (bibliography)
• "HIS 3300 Methods in Public & Oral History: Waco, McLennan County, and Texas Histories". Research Guides. Baylor University Libraries.