Cameron Park (Waco)

The Bosque River ( BOS-kee) is a 115-mile (185.1 km) long river in Central Texas fed by four primary branches. The longest branch, the North Bosque, forms near Stephenville, and flows toward Waco through Hamilton, Bosque and McLennan counties. It is subsequently joined by the East Bosque in Bosque County and the Middle and South Bosque Rivers near Waco. The river terminates into the Brazos River, and is dammed nearby to form Lake Waco. The Middle Bosque River adjoins the Prairie Chapel Ranch home of President George W. Bush northwest of Crawford, Texas.

McLennan Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Waco, Texas. It opened in 1965 and now serves about 9,000 students and has more than 700 employees. It is governed by a board of trustees elected from single-member districts in the county.

Cameron Park Zoo is a 52-acre (21 ha) natural habitat zoo located within Cameron Park in the city of Waco, Texas, United States, next to the Brazos River. Established in July 1993, Cameron Park Zoo has lush native vegetation that surrounds splashing waterfalls, a picturesque lake, and ponds. And in the midst of all this beauty, visitors see that the wild ones not only survive in their natural habitat, but they also flourish. The zoo features a diverse collection that includes over 1731 animals, representing 300 species from around the world. The Cameron Park Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Bishop Louis Reicher Catholic School is a private Catholic Parish school located in Waco, Texas. It is situated halfway between Dallas and Austin. Bishop Reicher was founded in 1954 by the Diocese of Austin. Reicher academics include curriculum offering of Advanced Placement, Dual Credit, and Honor courses. "St. Louis Reicher Catholic School educates each student in spirit, mind and body by fostering personal excellence within the Catholic tradition."

The Waco Mammoth National Monument is a paleontological site and museum in Waco, Texas, United States where fossils of 24 Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) and other mammals from the Pleistocene Epoch have been uncovered. The site is the largest known concentration of mammoths dying from a (possibly) reoccurring event, which is believed to have been a flash flood. The mammoths on site did not all die at the same time but rather during three separate events in the same area. A local partnership developed around the site after the initial bone was discovered. The Waco Mammoth Foundation worked in partnership with the city of Waco and Baylor University to develop the site. Baylor's involvement mainly included the research, preservation, and storage of materials from the site, while the city of Waco contributed to the protection of the land. In 2015, they successfully sought the National Monument designation to bring the expertise of the National Park Service into the partnership.

George Washington Carver High School was a public secondary school in the La Vega Independent School District in Waco, Texas. It served as the high school for black students from 1956 until the public schools were integrated in 1970.

Alexander James Moore Academy (more commonly referred to as A.J. Moore Academy) was a magnet high school in the Waco ISD district in Waco, TX. A.J. Moore was designed to prepare students for success in post secondary education and in the workplace. Students were prepared to excel academically, physically and socially. Special emphasis was placed on business, engineering, entrepreneurship, technology, and post-secondary education. In February 2012, the Waco Independent School District decided in part, avoiding a $3.4 million budget shortfall, to close and consolidate A. J. Moore Academy with University High School. On June 2, 2012, A.J. Moore Academy gave diplomas to its last graduating class. A. J. Moore Academy existed as a stand-alone school for 14 years.

Waco ( WAY-koh) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2022 population of 143,984, making it the 24th-most populous city in the state. The Waco metropolitan statistical area consists of McLennan, Falls and Bosque counties, which had a 2020 population of 295,782. Bosque County was added to the Waco MSA in 2023. The 2022 U.S. census population estimate for the Waco metropolitan area was 302,582 residents.

The Waco metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of McLennan, Falls and Bosque counties in Central Texas, anchored by the city of Waco. As of the 1 April 2020 census (which includes all 3 Counties), the MSA had a population of 295,782. The 2023 population estimate was over 300,000 which includes Bosque County (added to the Waco MSA in 2023).

The Washington Avenue Bridge in Waco, Texas was built in 1902 and was then the longest single-span vehicular truss bridge in Texas. It has a 450-foot (140 m) span across the Brazos River. It provided for traffic circulation in addition to that provided by the 1870-built Waco Suspension Bridge one block downriver (east).The bridge cost $93,399 for its construction, not including $1,850 for railings and approach spans. Its cost was split by McLennan County and the City of Waco, which became equal owners.A Black man named Sank Majors was lynched at the bridge in 1905, hung from a crossbeam by a white mob. Another Black man, Jim Lawyer, was attacked for objecting to the lynching. Texas Rangers looked on the violence and did not intervene.The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

The ALICO Building is a 22-story office building in downtown Waco, Texas, United States, located at the intersection of Austin and 5th Street. The building is currently owned and operated by the American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas (a subsidiary of Industrial Alliance). At 282 feet (86 m) tall, it is currently the tallest building in Waco.

Jesse Washington was a seventeen-year-old African American farmhand who was lynched in the county seat of Waco, Texas, on May 15, 1916, in what became a well-known example of lynching. Washington was convicted of raping and murdering Lucy Fryer, the wife of his white employer in rural Robinson, Texas. He was chained by his neck and dragged out of the county court by observers. He was then paraded through the street, all while being stabbed and beaten, before being held down and castrated. He was then lynched in front of Waco's city hall. Over 10,000 spectators, including city officials and police, gathered to watch the attack. There was a celebratory atmosphere among whites at the spectacle of the murder, and many children attended during their lunch hour. Members of the mob cut off his fingers, and hung him over a bonfire after saturating him with coal oil. He was repeatedly lowered and raised over the fire for about two hours. After the fire was extinguished, his charred torso was dragged through the town. A professional photographer took pictures as the event unfolded, providing rare imagery of a lynching in progress. The pictures were printed and sold as postcards in Waco. Although the lynching was supported by many Waco residents, it was condemned by newspapers around the United States. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) hired Elisabeth Freeman to investigate; she conducted a detailed probe in Waco, despite the reluctance of many residents to speak about the event. Freeman concluded that white residents were generally supportive of Washington's lynching. She also concluded that Washington killed Fryer. After receiving Freeman's report on the lynching, NAACP co-founder and editor W. E. B. Du Bois published an in-depth report featuring photographs of Washington's charred body in The Crisis, and the NAACP featured his death in their anti-lynching campaign. Historians have noted that Washington's death helped alter the way lynching was viewed. The widespread negative publicity helped curb public support for the practice. In the 1990s and 2000s, some Waco residents lobbied for a monument to Washington's lynching, but this idea failed to garner wide support in the city. On the centennial of the event in May 2016, the mayor of Waco held a formal ceremony to apologize to Washington's descendants and the African American community. A historical marker has been installed to memorialize the lynching.