WACO & THE HEARTOFTEXAS MEETING & CONVENTION PLANNERS’ GUIDE 2 WELCOME TO WACO 5 Letters of Welcome 7 Waco History 11 Multicultural History 13 Facts and References 14 Local Media 15 Greater Waco Map 16 Downtown Waco Map TABLE OF 17 WACO & THE HEART OF TEXAS 19 MEETING AND EVENTS FACILITIES CONTENTS 19 Waco Convention Center 22 Extraco Events Center Thank you for considering Waco for 23 Ferrell Center your next meeting or event. This guide 24 Indoor Event Venues 25 Outdoor Event Venues has been designed to introduce you to what Waco has to offer. For the most 26 LODGING 26 Hotels current information about the 32 Bed and Breakfasts Heart of Texas, please visit our 33 Accommodations Map website at wacoheartoftexas.com. 34 DOWNTOWN ENTERTAINMENT MAP 36 HOT SPOTS & PERFORMING ARTS 37 SIGHTS AND ATTRACTIONS 46 SPORTS AND RECREATIONAL VENUES 48 PARKS AND TRAILS 50 TRANSPORTATION 7/13 JOIN US Dear Meeting and Event Planner: Consider Waco for your next convention, meeting, or sports event. Waco has a long history as a destination city for meetings and events and is a favorite choice among tour and leisure vacation planners. Waco is conveniently located in the heart of Texas and is easily accessible by road, rail or air. The Waco Convention Center is located on the Brazos River Corridor in downtown Waco and is convenient to excellent lodging facilities and first-class attractions. Waco & the Heart of Texas is ready to work to facilitate all of your needs. Their care and attention to detail is sure to make your meeting planning a great experience. Waco is a great place to live and visit. We hope to have the opportunity to show off our great city to you soon! Sincerely, Larry D. Groth, P.E. City Manager, City of Waco 5 For the most up-to-date information available, visit wacoheartoftexas.com or call 800-321-9226. 5 WELCOME WACO IS READY TO BE YOUR HOST CITY! Whether it’s a meeting, convention or sports event, Waco is the ideal destination. Located in the center of the state — only 100 miles from either Dallas/Fort Worth or Austin—Waco’s convenience is unparalleled. The Waco Convention Center, located downtown alongside the Brazos River, is in close proximity to hotels, restaurants and museums like the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute, the truly unique Armstrong Browning Library and Mayborn Museum Complex at Baylor University, and our world-class Cameron Park Zoo. And, with event facilities like the Extraco Events Center and a multitude of new and top-of-the-line sports facilities, Waco promises a fun and friendly experience for all. And now, Waco wel- comes three additional cities to the Heart of Texas: Bellmead, Hewitt and McGregor. The staff of Waco & the Heart of Texas is eager to welcome your group and share our pride and enthusiasm for this great, historical Texas community. Whether you are planning a meeting, convention, or sports event, we have every- thing to make your next event a great success. Beyond our great meeting facilities and unique attractions, we want you to choose Waco for its good ol’ Texas hospitality! In Waco, we find visitors and convention attendees to be not just faces in the crowd, but folks who share in the ancestry of the Texas Rangers, the popularity of Dr Pepper, and the timeless love of cultural beauty in the works of poets Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. So come join us for a visit, a meeting, or an event. We look forward to seeing you in Waco. Sincerely, Elizabeth A. Taylor Director, Waco & the Heart of Texas 6 For the most up-to-date information available, visit wacoheartoftexas.com or call 800-321-9226. 6 HEART OF TEXAS HISTORY 1837 During the days of the 1870 The longest single-span 1882 McGregor Springs, 1890 The City of Waco Texas Republic, the Texas Rangers bridge west of the Mississippi, now known as McGregor, was passed laws creating the first established Ft. Fisher, a temporary Waco’s Suspension Bridge established at the intersection of legal, licensed “red light district” outpost to protect early settlers. provided the only pedestrian the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe in the state of Texas. The red light and wagon span across the and the Texas and St. Louis rail- district laws required all 1849 Land agent Jacob de Brazos River. ways. The new town was named immoral activities to be restricted Cordova sold lots in the new in honor of Gregor Carmichael to one area of town so that the Waco Village to famed Texas McGregor, a doctor who gave rest of the city could remain Ranger Captain Shapley P. Ross. the railroad right-of-way to cross “sinless.” The area, called “The The village was named after his land. Reservation,” was located Waco Indians who had a between Washington and 400-acre settlement in the area. Waco pharmacist 1885 Jefferson Avenue from Third Street Charles Curtis Alderton first 1857 The Town of Waco to right across the river. Waco, combined the flavors for Dr along with Omaha, Nebraska, was incorporated by the state leg- Paul Quinn College, 1872 Pepper while working at Waco’s was one of the first two cities in islature. Texas’ oldest liberal arts college “Old Corner Drug Store.” the United States to have legal- for African-Americans, was ized prostitution. The Reservation operated for 27 years until 1890 Waco claimed to 1917, when the U.S. Army be the largest inland cotton closed it down. market in the world and pub- lished receipts of 60,000 1894 Waco hosted the first Cotton Palace Exhibition. The bales moved annually by Exhibition brought visitors from wagon and 150,000 bales across the state for agricultural moved annually by rail exhibits, an amusement area, ora- as supporting evidence. tors, musicians, and a originally founded in Austin as the 1861 Texas seceded and Connectional College. The col- 2,200 soldiers from McLennan lege moved to Waco a few years County fought for the later and was renamed Paul Confederacy. Six of these soldiers Quinn College in 1881. became generals; among them It was located at Eighth and was Sul Ross, son of Shapley P. Mary Streets in downtown Ross. Sul Ross later became gov- Waco before relocating to Elm ernor of Texas and was buried in Street. The school was named Oakwood Cemetery along with in honor of Bishop William two other Texas governors, Paul Quinn, longtime African 1886 Baylor University Richard Coke and Pat Neff. coronation ceremony for King Methodist Episcopal (AME) mis- moved to Waco from and Queen Cotton of Texas, Many of the area’s Civil War sionary. The college relocated to Independence, Texas. One of the ending with a Grand Ball. Six veterans are buried in First Dallas in the early ’90s. oldest institutions of higher learn- weeks after the Exhibition’s incep- Street and Oakwood Cemeteries. ing in Texas, Baylor is the largest tion, fire destroyed the fair build- Baptist university in the world. ing. The Cotton Palace was 7 For the most up-to-date information available, visit wacoheartoftexas.com or call 800-321-9226. 7 Located in downtown Waco and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the McLennan County Courthouse has served as a monument to law and order since 1901. Constructed in 1910, Waco’s 22-story ALICO building was the tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixon line at the time it was built. HEART OF TEXAS HISTORY 1910 Constructed in just 12 months at a cost of $755,000, the ALICO building has been a steadfast landmark on the Waco skyline. Built with 40,085,200 pounds of steel, iron, and marble, the 22-story skyscraper should last well into the next century. rebuilt in 1910, and Wacoans continued the celebration of cotton’s role in Waco’s economy. 1920 The City of Bellmead had its beginnings in the mid- top: 1910 Looking down Austin 1920s, when the Missouri, 1882, and was named after the have been discovered Ave. before the ALICO was built. Kansas and Texas Railroad chose director of the Katy railroad. thus far, and excavations are bottom: 1918 Looking down Austin Ave. after the ALICO was built. the site for its locomotive shops expected to continue for decades. 1965 McLennan County As an active dig, the site is closed Waco became the taxpayers voted in favor of a 1942 to the public. Visitors can learn 2000-2008 During the location of two Army Air Bases— community college. In 1969, more about the mammoths at eight years of his presidency Blackland Army Air Field and McLennan Community College George W. Bush hosted numer- the Mayborn Museum Complex. Waco Army Air Field. The latter opened on nearly 200 acres of ous dignitaries at his ranch in base was operational during the scenic land near Cameron Park 1993 The siege on the Crawford, just 20 minutes from Korean War and was known as and the Bosque River. Branch Davidian compound, Waco. These guests included Russian President Vladmir Putin, James Connally Air Force Base. 10 miles east of Waco, began 1965 The Texas Legislature British Prime Minister Tony Blair, The base was closed in 1965 on February 28 and ended April founded Texas State Technical Japanese Prime Minister Junichino and is now the main campus of 19 with a fire taking the lives of College (TSTC) to meet the Koizumi, Mexican President Texas State Technical College. all but a few adults and children growing needs of business and Vicente Fox, Spanish President within the commune.