Today the Waco Suspension Bridge serves only pedestrian traffic. It is the centerpiece of Indian Springs Park on the river, and stands as a reminder of Waco’s rich history.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Waco Suspension Bridge, Waco, Texas
In 1866 the Waco Bridge Company was granted a 25 year charter to build a toll bridge. The charter guaranteed that no other bridge or ferry could be built within five miles. Construction began in 1868 and, after much financial difficulty, was finished in 1870. Bridge traffic included wagons, pedestrians, and cattle herds. Special rates were given to heavy users. From 1875 to 1889 the public agitated for a free bridge, but the company retained its monopoly. Then, in 1889, the bridge was sold to McLennan County which gave it to the City of Waco as a free bridge.
Today the Waco Suspension Bridge serves only pedestrian traffic. It is the centerpiece of Indian Springs Park on the river, and stands as a reminder of Waco’s rich history.
Today the Waco Suspension Bridge serves only pedestrian traffic. It is the centerpiece of Indian Springs Park on the river, and stands as a reminder of Waco’s rich history.
Waco Mammoth National Monument, Waco, Texas
Another stamp for my National Park Passport, and a new national monument, issued in 2015 by President Obama. Designated as the Waco Mammoth National Monument, this very special paleontological site represents the nation's only recorded discovery of a nursery herd of Columbian mammoths.
In 1978, two men discovered an unusual bone in a ravine near the the Bosque River, within the northern outskirts of Waco. They took the find to Baylor University's Strecker Museum, where museum staff identified it as part of a Columbian mammoth femur. This now extinct species lived during the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age) and inhabited North America from southern Canada to as far south as Costa Rica.
In 1978, two men discovered an unusual bone in a ravine near the the Bosque River, within the northern outskirts of Waco. They took the find to Baylor University's Strecker Museum, where museum staff identified it as part of a Columbian mammoth femur. This now extinct species lived during the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age) and inhabited North America from southern Canada to as far south as Costa Rica.
Texas Rangers Museum, Waco, Texas
After leaving Glen Rose we stopped in Waco, Texas for a couple of nights so we could visit the Texas Rangers Museum and the Waco Mammoth National Monument. The Texas Rangers are a fascinating group of men. Mostly "cowboys" riding the Texas range on horses and wearing their customary white shirts and white cowboy hats. They are the oldest state law enforcement agency in the United States, beginning with the earliest settlements in Texas, protecting the early settlers from Indian attacks and bandidos from Mexico.
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