Site of Waco Boating and Fishing Club
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On January 10, 1890, a small group of prominent Waco citizens gathered at the McLennan County courthouse. According to the minutes of that first meeting, they had come together "for the purpose of establishing a boating and fishing club." The organization obtained a state charter a month later. The club originally was comprised of fifty members, each of whom purchased stock in the new venture. Tom Padgitt was elected first president of the club, Otis W. David served as secretary, and W. W. Seley was elected treasurer. Members of the club immediately began looking for property on which to establish their headquarters. They soon purchased 50 acres of land five miles west of the city and just north of the road leading from Waco to Crawford for $2,000. In March 1890, the board authorized construction of a dam and proper development of a lake. An artesian well was drilled in 1892, and the lake was stocked with fish. Members of the club voted to name the site "Fountain Lake" and built a boat house on the east shore of the lake. Reports of club activities regularly appeared in a local society newsletter called Artesia. By the turn of the 20th century, the organization was commonly known as the "Fish Pond Club" and the term "Fish Pond" soon replaced the earlier adopted "Fountain Lake." The club's facilities became a fashionable social gathering place and were used by members and non-members alike. Soon the road leading to the site was named Fish Pond Road and the surrounding area gradually took on the popular name, as well. The nearby Ridgewood Country Club purchased the property in 1985, and the Waco Boating and Fishing Club officially dissolved in 1988. At the beginning of the 21st century the old fish pond site became part of a new residential development. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On a January day in 1890 fifty prominent Wacoans met at the county courthouse to charter a boating and fishing club, buying fifty acres west of town and damming a stream into a lake they christened Fountain Lake. With an artesian well, stocked fish, and a boat house, the retreat became a fashionable social resort, soon better known as the 'Fish Pond Club' — a name that spread to the road and the whole surrounding area. A country club bought the land in 1985, the club dissolved in 1988, and the old pond eventually gave way to a residential subdivision.
Why it matters
The club captures the leisure culture of the Gilded Age, when a city's elite pooled their capital to engineer a private lake and a social world around it.
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Related people
- · Tom Padgitt
- · Otis W. David
- · W. W. Seley
Themes & tags
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