The buzz had been building for weeks prior to the November 1910 opening of The Texas Cotton Palace Exposition — the first since the devastating fire of Jan. 19, 1895, which destroyed the great hall erected for the inaugural edition of the agricultural fete.

It had taken almost 15 years for the businessmen and commercial interests of Waco to rebuild the “new and improved” edition of the festival, which celebrated the central role the fluffy fiber played in local life and the prosperity of Central Texas.

The 12-acre grounds of the Texas Cotton Palace Exposition (known for 11 months of the year as Padgitt Park) were bounded by Clay Avenue, Dutton Avenue, 16th Street and Waco Creek — with an entrance at 13th Street and Clay Avenue. That first season of 1910, the new and improved Cotton Palace drew some 98,000 visitors in four weeks.
Photo courtesy of the Texas Collection at Baylor University (Roger Conger Cotton Palace file) and Lavonia Jenkins Barnes research

Willie Camille Seley (1889-1969) was just 21 when she was crowned Cotton Queen of the 1910 celebration.
Photo courtesy of the Texas Collection at Baylor University (Roger Conger Cotton Palace file) and Lavonia Jenkins Barnes research

On Nov. 8, 1894 , Gov. James Hogg had been guest of honor on the opening day of the nearly month-long inaugural Texas Cotton Palace.

Agricultural exhibits and various amusements, musicians and orators filled the fairgrounds at the first Cotton Palace, which brought visitors from all over the state to Waco — at the time one of the largest cities of the Lone Star State.

But after a successful run and grandiose plans for an even bigger and better Cotton Palace for 1895, the 15,000 square-foot exhibition hall — built at a cost of $25,000 (or more than $600,000 in today’s dollars) — was consumed in a mysterious blaze only six weeks after the gates closed in December 1894. The glow from the conflagration of the 5,000-seat Coliseum reportedly could be seen for 40 miles.

Myriad other events filled the social calendars of Waco’s upper crust for the next decade or so. But, it wasn’t until 1909 when the Young Men’s Business League (precursor to today’s Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce) took the lead that a capital fund drive became a reality.

The new Texas Cotton Palace Exposition was born.

Almost $65,000 (or $1.5 million in modern money) was spent erecting the new exposition hall, which would be photographed frequently through the years by Fred A. Gildersleeve. Another $22,282 (or more than $500,000 in 2010 dollars) funded the Floral and Machinery Hall. Decor added another $2,765 (or $63,000) to the tab for the over-the-top festivities.

Cotton was still king in the local economy, and its royal courtiers demanded spectacle and pomp.

Even the Nov. 5 opening day rainstorm in 1910 — after weeks of dry skies — did not chill the crowd’s enthusiasm for the extravaganza of entertainment, newspapers reported. The parade was moved to the less soggy afternoon, and the revelers packed the Coliseum for speeches by local dignitaries and music by travelling Italian-American cornetist Signor Liberati and his Famous Band and Concert Company.

Each day brought educational exhibits and other attractions, and each night some form of wholesome entertainment or high pageantry.

When it closed at midnight Nov. 20, after hosting more than 98,000 visitors, organizers judged the enterprise a huge success.

For the next 20 years, until cotton was kicked off its throne by the big bad wolf of the Great Depression, the annual event brought thousands of visitors through Waco, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy. Cotton Palace grew in size and prestige each year, and constantly sought bigger thrills and more curious attractions.

In 1912, for example, organizers brought in a troupe of authentic Waco Indians from the Anadarko, Okla., reservation, escorted by Indian fighter Capt. Robert Ross. Their temporary village, set up on “the Warpath” (as the arcade alley was known) was one of the greatest draws to that date. Attendance surpassed 300,000 that season.

Some 40 years after the Cotton Palace closed its doors for the last time in October 1930, local residents revived the spirit of the annual hoopla by producing “The Waco Cotton Palace,” a two-hour high-energy stage production that recounts Waco storied past through drama, song and dance.

The next such production is planned for 8 p.m. April 29, 2011, at Waco Hall at Baylor University.

Additional sources: Handbook of Texas Online; The Texas Cotton Palace: Waco, Texas by Lavonia Jenkin Barnes (Texian Press, 1964); WacoCVB.com, WacoCottonPalace.org

John Maxwell, who was Waco’s city attorney from 1913-18, was crowned King Cotton at the 1910 Texas Cotton Palace Exposition.
Photo courtesy of the Texas Collection at Baylor University (Roger Conger Cotton Palace file) and Lavonia Jenkins Barnes research

Oscar Branch Colquitt (1861-1940) was governor-elect when he came to Waco to open the 1910 edition of the Cotton Palace.
Photo courtesy of the Texas Collection at Baylor University (Roger Conger Cotton Palace file) and Lavonia Jenkins Barnes research