Proctor Springs

Duane's take

The marker at Proctor Springs is the one telling this story, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now, before Waco had parks and picnic blankets and Sunday afternoons, Proctor Springs was already doing its job. It was one of numerous watering sites used by frontiersmen, a place where the land offered something essential, no fanfare required.

Later, as Waco grew up around it, the springs became a picnic spot for early Waco families. Shady, quiet, the kind of place a city starts to love before it even knows what to do with it. Then came the deed.

May 24, 1910. Mrs. William Cameron, Flora B.

Cameron, and her family signed over the original land to the city of Waco. That grant, one hundred and twenty-five acres, became the foundation of William Cameron Park, named in honor of the civic leader and businessman who had passed away in 1899. The park carried his name forward after he was gone, which is one way a city says thank you.

The story didn't stop there. By 1920, the original hundred and twenty-five acres had grown to five hundred. The park's guiding theme was built right into its character: natural scenic beauty to be preserved for the pleasure of the people.

That phrase did a lot of quiet work over the years. And in 1970, the Waco Garden Club took that theme seriously. They restored the bird sanctuary, the arboretum, and the native wildflower preserve, bringing back what the springs and the land had always been trying to offer.

Frontiersmen stopped here to water up. Families spread their picnic cloths in the shade. A family deeded it away so everyone could have it.

Some places just keep on giving, if the people around them let them.

What the marker says

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.