Waco Springs

Waco Springs, four miles north of New Braunfels in southeastern Comal County, was settled in 1847 as German immigrants moved into the hills above New Braunfels. Several German families located on the west bank of the Guadalupe River near springs at an old campground of the Waco Indians. Sawmill and gristmill operations were soon established. The settlement supported a community school before the Civil War, but by the 1880s only a private school served the area. A vacation resort was located near the springs in the 1930s, but there is no record of a community center at the site after 1950. There are differing explanations for the name of the site: that it was named for the Indian tribe; that the name comes from Spanish hueco (empty) and was chosen because the springs occasionally run dry; and that it refers to sand burrs common in the area. Disagreement about the origin of the name probably accounts for its different spellings-alternately Waco, Hueco, and Huaco-although the site is legally recorded as Waco Springs.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.