The End of Gas Street Lights in Waco

REMOVING GAS POSTS FROM RESIDENCE PART

Waco Times-Herald
January 8, 1904

The old gas posts, which served to conduct the gas which lighted the city several years ago, before the regime of the electric lights, are being removed, and will soon disappear entirely from the residence section.

Negroes are digging them up, under instructions from the Waco Gas company, as they have not been used in years, and all this goes to show that Waco has outgrown her swaddling clothes some time since and requires a more elaborate and extensive wardrobe to officiate in her new position among the cities of Texas.

The posts mentioned were formerly surmounted at the top by a square glass, which shut out the wind and rain and allowed the lights to glimmer out and dispel the darkness. Although inadequate for present needs, yet the old days of gas lights did well for the times.

Waco Bumper Sticker Gallery

This bumper sticker, distributed free around town in the late 1970s, urged visitors and residents alike to "Wake Up to Waco."

Autos Replace the Horse and Buggy

AUTO CRAZE SHOWS DECIDED INCREASE

Waco Times-Herald
April 1, 1909

Twenty-two automobile licenses were issued last month by County Clerk Caufield and his deputies, completely eclipsing the record made for any previous month since the law made it mandatory for owners of autos to have their machines numbered. Not more than three licenses have been issued any preceding month.

This serves to indicate how rapidly the desire to possess an auto has increased among residents of this city. Machines have recently been received here in car load lots, evidencing the fact that the demand is increasing constantly. It has not been such a great while since an automobile was regarded here as a curiosity, something to be stared at with wonder and amazement, but that feeling has entirely disappeared, and it requires a car unusually elaborately constructed to secure more than a passing glance now.

In this city autos have come into general use for business purposes. When they first made their appearance, most of them were utilized for outings, but men prominent in the business and professional world have virtually dispensed with horses and buggies and replaced them with autos. They have been generally adopted by real estate dealers, to whom they are most serviceable in showing property to prospective buyers, while medical men have also recognized the worth of an auto in their line of work, claiming that it is far more satisfactory than the use of a horse and buggy when answering calls.