Historic Buildings Of Waco Texas

Community life takes place in the spaces where business is transacted, where worship and fellowship take place, where goods and services are purchased, where students are educated, and where working and professional people ply their trades. In Historic Buildings of Waco, Texas, architectural historian Kenneth Hafertepe delves into the stories behind 90 such structures in Waco, discussing their original and current-day purposes, the individuals associated with them, and their context within the architecture of the city and state. As with his previous, award-winning books, Hafertepe has investigated archives, city directories, public records, and other sources to uncover fascinating details about the architects, builders, merchants, educators, and others whose work gave these buildings shape and substance and whose use gave them life. He discusses the styles, sketches the historical circumstances surrounding the buildings and their occupants, and actualizes the social, commercial, spiritual, and educational enrichment these structures housed and facilitated. Churches, synagogues, skyscrapers, banks, filling stations, and even the famous “silos” that now mark the location of Magnolia Market, made famous by the television series Fixer-Uppers, all factor into Hafertepe’s scholarly and entertaining treatment, accompanied by rich, full-color photography.

Winner, 2020 Ron Tyler Award for Best Illustrated Book on Texas History and Culture In this thoughtful tour of 120 historic homes in Waco, Texas, architectural historian Kenneth Hafertepe gives readers a glimpse of the surprising variety of styles and stories captured in the houses built by and for Wacoans. Focusing on the period from the 1850s to about 1940, Hafertepe provides not only snapshots of the dwellings in which the people of Waco lived, but also informed hints about how they lived: everyone from the wealthiest merchants to the humblest day laborers. Historic Homes of Waco, Texas incorporates material gleaned from city directories, fire insurance maps, census and cemetery records, and other archival and published sources to afford the most complete picture possible of how these homes came to be and what became of those who built and lived in them. Over 120 color photographs, also taken by the author, round out the descriptions. The popular enthusiasm for the television series featuring Waco-area “fixer-uppers,” coupled with the burgeoning local industry generated by the show’s two charismatic hosts, has certainly boosted interest in historic homes and buildings in Waco. Indeed, Hafertepe has incorporated a handful of properties featured on the show among the houses profiled in this book. But beyond any current entertainment craze, Historic Homes of Waco, Texas will stand the test of time as an authoritative and entertaining tribute to these important structures and the people who inhabited them.

As with his well-received first book on the historic homes of Waco, architectural historian Kenneth L. Hafertepe brings to life the colorful and varied pasts of an entirely new set of notable residences in this city. Hafertepe extends coverage beyond the typical focus on homes of the more well-to-do classes. Included here are "homes of saloon keepers, horse traders, saddlers, ministers, bookkeepers, candy store owners, and laborers" as well as the residences of lawyers, doctors, and wealthy merchants, among others. With a blend of meticulous research, beautiful color photographs, and accessible, entertaining writing, Hafertepe presents these historic homes as a lens on the history and sociology of Waco, Texas, showing how immigrants from Western and Central Europe, West Asia, and other places of origin, along with African Americans, Mexican Americans, Anglo-Americans, and others, made places and lives for themselves and their families in this central Texas community. The result, as described by Hafertepe, is "an intricate tapestry, with materials contributed by Black Wacoans as well as white; by immigrants from abroad and people born elsewhere in the United States. . . . These houses tell stories of successes and failures, triumphs and tragedies, dreams that came true and dreams that were denied. These houses speak to the complexity of the human condition and to the ongoing experiments that are Waco, Texas, and the United States of America."

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