McLennan County (Master)

NUMBER MARKERS IN COUNTY - 237

Have- 212 Need-25

McLennan County is named after Neil McLennan, an early settler. The county seat is Waco. When I was still in Australia, I knew nothing about Waco except for a tragic event in 1993. David Korash’s followers and the police clashed, resulting in the deaths of over 80 Korash followers and 4 police officers. This event definitely shaped my expectations of Waco before I visited.

What I found was a university town, a large rural community with a strong connection to its migrant roots. Now, Waco is almost trendy, with people lining up to visit Magnolia because of Chip and Joanna Gaines’ TV show, Fixer Upper. Has this changed the face of Waco? I’d say yes in some ways. It’s still a college town, but there are more restaurants, more tourists, and it was definitely harder to get a room at my favorite Waco hotel, the Hotel Indigo.

The farmers market had a lot of visitors, and I’m not sure this would have always been the case. We’ve eaten at a lot of different restaurants in Waco, including Elite Cafe before it became Magnolia, George’s, where I learned to appreciate chicken fried steak (see the picture below), the famous Health Camp, Ninfa’s (which I thought was okay but Steve says it doesn’t touch the original location in Houston), and finally, one of my favorite Texas restaurants of all time, Diamondbacks.
So, about those markers, it’s a bit of a mystery. McLennan County feels a bit disorganized to me. We’ve been exploring here since the start of our hobby in 2005. The McLennan County Historical Commission is really active and has added new markers regularly over the years. There are markers on private property, like Goodall Cemetery, Hogle Cabin, Watt Caufield Ranch, the Ross Oak, and the site of Torrey’s Trading Post, that we haven’t had the chance to visit yet. The Torrey’s Trading Post is a centennial marker, and apparently, the owner has blocked all access. It seems like there might be a bit of a tug-of-war between the McClennan County Historical Commission and the owner, who would love to relocate the marker, which I believe has fallen over. Usually, when we’ve encountered markers on private property, people have been quite welcoming and let us access them as long as we ask. It makes sense that they want to know who’s on their land. These markers we know exist, but it’s just an access issue, and sometimes, figuring out who to ask can be tricky. Texans are known for being cautious, but they’re also incredibly proud of their history. It’s only when they don’t want to share their heritage that they become a bit guarded. For instance, St. Paul’s Espiscopal Church received a medallion as part of the 1960s marker program, but the church doesn’t know where it is. The Aquilla Bridge Truss and Bosque River Crossing markers from the 1841 and Texas Santa Fe Expedition were broken off at the pole, and I think McLennan County might replace them eventually. The Giles Homestead burnt in 1968, so the medallion was lost. Belle Plain is mentioned in the Texas Historical Commission marker guide, but I think that might be an error. The Paul Quinn College marker I believe was moved to Dallas, where the campus is still active. The marker for Central Texas Baptist Sanitarium, I have no idea where it is. We couldn’t find it at 3000 Herring Avenue. Second Baptist Church of Waco was removed from the site of the old church but hasn’t been moved to the site of the new church. The H. & T. C. Railroad marker may or may not be missing? There are new markers that we haven’t visited yet. Here’s my last dilemma: there’s a book called Historical Markers of McLennan County by Charles Scott Adams, but the author has passed away. Most of the markers listed in the book are also listed in the Texas Historical Commission atlas, but there are some that aren’t. The thing is, in the last couple of years, a few of them have appeared on the atlas as well, so I’m not sure if they’re actually genuine markers. I’ve written to McLennan County and hope they can help me out.

August 21st, 2025 - On August 21st, 2025, McLennan County dedicated several new markers, but we haven’t been able to capture them yet. This is probably because the McLennan County Historical Commission is very active and always on the lookout for these historical markers.
For me most important are the older markers that we’re missing. Some of them are on private property, so it’s not easy to get access to them. I’d love to capture the H.& T.C. Railroad marker, the Central Baptist Sanitarium marker, and the Second Baptist Church of Waco marker. I’d also love to capture the Hogle Cabin, the Sims Cabin, and the Watt Cauldfield homestead.

McLennan County Historical Markers