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Interesting Facts
- Waco's Suspension Bridge was the first pedestrian bridge to be built across the Brazos River. Completed in 1870, it incorporated some three million bricks and spanned 475 feet. Designed by John A. Roebling and Son, the bridge is believed to have provided the firm useful practical knowledge for future projects, including NYC's landmark Brooklyn Bridge.
- More than ten years after the horrific Branch Davidian conflagration in which 76 members died, Waco shoulders the burden of being the nearest city to the compound. While not immune to mention of "Wacko Waco," the city hopes to diminish its connection to an event that happened 12 miles away and involved a fringe religion. Even so, tourists still visit the desolate place, welcomed only by a small, undistinguished visitor center.
- When aquatic recreation is in order, Waco residents head to Waco Lake. Located northwest of the city, the lake was created by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the middle of the 20th century. While its main duty is water conservation, the lake also invites swimming, fishing, boating, camping and lots more.
- An interesting holdover from Waco's early days is its traffic circle. Circumscribing a raised median that features a large brick star, the two-lane-wide circle was constructed in 1933 and intended to handle and slow 3000 vehicles a day. Today, its volume is 50,000. Despite efforts to get rid of it, citizens raised an outcry, and it still remains as a landmark and as a test of driving acumen. The circle is located at the conjunction of Valley Mills Drive, Circle Drive, La Salle Avenue, US Hwy 77, and I-35's frontage road.
- If you're in the mood for truly local fare, head to Vitek's Bar-B-Q for a Gut Pak. This variation of a "frito pie" takes a base of corn chips, layers them with chopped beef barbecue and smoked sausage, and adds in cheese, beans, onions, pickles, sauce and jalapenos. Crowning it all is a slice of bread. Healthy? Doubtful. Delicious? Absolutely! Check it out at 1600 Speight Avenue.
- Baylor University, Waco's hometown school, is a large, prestigious Southern Baptist institution whose rules can appear strict to some folks. Times do change, however, as in the late '90s, when a 151-year-old ban was lifted to allow dancing on campus for the first time. A few students who didn't fit into Baylor's traditions included Willie Nelson, who left to pursue a musical career, and Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader, who was dismissed for his partying ways.
- Baylor, chartered in 1845, boasts some 14,000 students and grants bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in a variety of disciplines. The 735-acre campus sits on the Brazos River and is much-loved for its Bears athletic teams. In fact, green-and-gold loyalty runs deep, especially during football season – this is Texas, after all!
- A number of well-known Hollywood folks have ties to Waco. Comedian and writer Steve Martin counts Waco as his birthplace, as do television actresses Jennifer Love Hewitt (Party of Five) and Peri Gilpin (Frazier).
- As President George Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch is only 14 miles away, Waco was once the local headquarters for news agencies covering the "Western White House." As a result, depending on the former president's vacation schedule and what the news landscape is like, you may encounter some familiar network or political faces when you're out and about.
- Interestingly, Waco has the distinction of being the site of a huge deposit of mammoth bones. Discovered riverside in 1978 and dating back some 68,000 years, the bones are believed to belong to approximately two dozen individual creatures. Scholars speculate that the animals were trapped in a mud slide or flash flood and died as a group. The event is given amazingly realistic coverage, complete with castings and video, at the Mayborn Museum Complex.
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