This city is a participant in the:

Texas Main Street City Program
Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program

Get to Know Waco

King among the Waco waterways is the Brazos River. Crossing the Brazos, however, was dangerous and difficult, which led several ambitious Waco residents to form the Waco Bridge Company in 1866 and undertake a project that would come to define their town.

Upon completion, it was the longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi. It could accommodate wagons, coaches, pedestrians, and livestock—all paying a toll—and lead right into the center of town, through Austin Avenue. In the ten years after the bridge opened, Waco’s population increased 142% and the town boomed. In Texas tradition, a fine new courthouse was built, signaling the arrival of stability and prosperity.

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