Old news from Waco ~ 134 photos

[KevinFromTexas]

I took these last year in November and just never got around to posting them. Waco is located 100 miles north of Austin along I-35, about halfway between Austin and Dallas. I rode around downtown and also headed over to Baylor University.

Founded in 1845, Baylor University is the oldest university in Texas. Baylor is located a mile east of downtown on the other side of I-35 along the Brazos River. Baylor covers 735 acres and has just under 14,000 students.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University

Baylor University Sciences Building, Waco's newest highrise built in 2004.
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Pat Neff Hall built in 1939.
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Student housing.
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Burleson Hall built in 1887.
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Bill Daniel Student Center.
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Tidwell Bible Building.
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It was going through some sort of renovation.
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A hint of fall colors in Central Texas.
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Waco's Hilton Convention Center Hotel.
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Waco's tallest since 1911. The Amicable Life Insurance Building, or "Alico Building" as it's more well known. At 282 feet tall with 22 floors, it was one of the tallest in the state at the time. In fact, the only building I can think of that was taller at the time is the Capitol. The Alico Building was one of the few structures that survived an F5 tornado that hit downtown Waco in 1953. Several buildings were destroyed. One was a 6-story furniture store building that was across the street which collapsed and killed 30 people. In all, 114 people were killed and 597 were injured. This was at a time when Waco's downtown was a booming area. 250 homes and 2,000 cars were destroyed or damaged causing $50 million in damage. It was the deadliest tornado ever to hit Texas, and 10th in the nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_tornado
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The McLennan County Courthouse built in 1901.
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The Alico Building is easily one of my favorite buildings in the state. Truly beautiful, but the base of it suffered some horrible renovations during the 60s.
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Waco's ISD headquarters. The building was built in 1928, but went through a renovation during the 60s that ruined it.
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The city does still have some jewels.
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Waco's Kress Building.
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Austin Avenue, the main street in downtown.
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Waco's 2nd tallest, this building is being redeveloped into residential, office space and retail.
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An adjacent ~5 story parking garage was demolished. I'm not exactly sure what the plans are for the rest of the block.
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The Behrens Lofts. Yes! Residential. Part of the transformation was 3 new floors.
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Waco City Hall.
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The Waco Suspension Bridge. Built in 1870, the bridge was the first to cross the Brazos River in Texas. It was designed by John Roebling who also designed the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. This bridge is rumored to have been a model for that one. It was also the longest single span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River once completed at 475 feet long. Planning for it started in 1866 and construction 3 years later. At the time of construction the nearest railroad to Waco was 100 miles away. So materials had to be brought by boat from Galveston to Bryan, Texas up the Brazos River. From there they were hauled by ox teams to Waco. In 1971 the bridge closed to automobile traffic.
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Goodnight Waco.
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[KevinFromTexas]

>>>>Scroll>>>>

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[Dragonfire]

Nice pictures. I've driven through Waco countless times, but I've only been downtown once, and that was to visit the Dr Pepper Museum.

Waco always struck me as a city that could have been big (as big as Austin even), but never did become big for whatever reason.

[Boris]

Excellent photos. I lived three years there while going to Baylor Law School.

The DT has some beautiful buildings as you have shown, but the west side is beautiful around the lake and Cameron Park.

[ydoc14]

I've driven through Waco countless times too and played in a few tennis matches/tournaments there back in high school but I've never been downtown. I've been planning on driving to Waco one day next month and doing a little exploring (albeit not on foot lol).

[LoneStarMike]

Great photos, Kevin. I'm curious though. Were these photos taken on Thanksgiving Day or early on a Sunday morning? There sure doesn't seem to be very much traffic or pedestrian activity going on.

[Wattleigh]

Yeah, it does look a bit sparse for a regular weekday or even a Saturday morning. At least from what I've observed from when I've visited...

The rehab work on the old Christus retirement building is pretty good as well. Last time I saw, the area had been improved and the cleared space I believe is actually now home to a building that houses either Waco ISD offices or Chamber of Commerce offices. I'll have to pay attention the next time I'm in town.

[KevinFromTexas]

Great photos, Kevin. I'm curious though. Were these photos taken on Thanksgiving Day or early on a Sunday morning? There sure doesn't seem to be very much traffic or pedestrian activity going on.

I took these on the 26th of November last year. So checking the calendar, that was 2 days after Thanksgiving on a Sunday. As for the time, I went to Baylor first in mid morning I believe, then headed back downtown.

I would have taken more night time pictures, but my tripod had broken when the top snapped off. I've since gotten another one though.

[KevinFromTexas]

I found a neat website for the Alico Building.
http://www.alicobuilding.com/

From that website. This was some of the tornado damage in Waco on May 11, 1953. This was a 6-story building that collapsed, killing 30 people.
http://www.alicobuilding.com/heritage/Gallery/images/tornadodamage_jpg.jpg
Photo by Jimmy Willis May 11, 1953.