Proctor Springs
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of numerous watering sites used by frontiersmen; a picnic spot for early Waco. Deeded on May 24, 1910, by Mrs. William (Flora B.) Cameron and family to city of Waco as original grant for William Cameron Park--named in honor of the deceased (1899) civic leader and businessman. The original 125-acre park was increased to 500 acres in 1920. In keeping with park's theme of "natural scenic beauty to be preserved for the pleasure of the people", the Waco Garden Club in 1970 restored the bird sanctuary, arboretum, and native wild flower preserve.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Proctor Springs was one of many watering sites used by frontiersmen and a favored picnic spot for early Waco. In 1910 Mrs. Flora B. Cameron and her family deeded the land to the city as the original grant for William Cameron Park, honoring the late civic leader and businessman who died in 1899. The original 125 acres grew to 500 by 1920, and in 1970 the Waco Garden Club restored its bird sanctuary, arboretum, and native wildflower preserve in keeping with the park's dedication to natural beauty.
Why it matters
It preserves the memory of frontier watering holes and the Progressive-era impulse to set aside natural land as public parkland for future generations.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Flora B. Cameron
- · William Cameron
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hoyle Cabin
Waco, TX
This cabin was raised in 1858 from hand-hewn, saw-notched native yellow pine on land patented in Rusk County to Matilda Hoyle around 1853. After 1880 it long belonged to the Snelgrove family, passing through Eli Benjamin and Julia Kilgore Snelgrove and their son John. In 1955 it was purchased, moved to Waco, and restored by local historian Roger N. Conger.
Kellum Family Cemetery
Waco, TX
Virginia-born Edward Kellum served in the Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812 before marrying Karen Tabor and moving west through Alabama and Mississippi, finally settling along the Brazos River in McLennan County in 1854. He established a farm and, before his death in 1863, chose this ground as the family graveyard, becoming its first burial. Twenty-five graves, most now marked only by illegible sandstone, hold several generations of Kellums; Mary Elizabeth Jurney Kellum, the last buried here in 1895, left provisions in her will to maintain the plot.
Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F. & A.M.
Waco, TX
Texas Freemasonry began with a false start in 1828, when Stephen F. Austin's petition to the Mexican Grand Lodge foundered amid political turmoil. A charter finally reached Texas through Anson Jones, who reportedly carried it during the Battle of San Jacinto, and in 1837 three lodges convened under Sam Houston to form the Grand Lodge of the Republic of Texas, with Jones as first Grand Master. After meeting in many places, the Grand Lodge settled permanently in Waco in 1902.
The Courthouses of McLennan County
Waco, TX
McLennan County was carved out of Robertson and Milam counties in 1850 and named for pioneer settler Neil McLennan, and its courthouses chart the county's rise. From a two-story log building of 1851, to a troubled 1856 brick structure, to W.C. Dodson's admired 1877 building with its mansard roof and clock tower, each outgrew Waco's ambitions in turn. The fourth, a Renaissance Revival landmark by noted architect James Riely Gordon crowned with statues of eagles and the figures of Justice and Liberty, was completed in 1902 and celebrated its centennial a hundred years later.