Waco ( WAY-koh) is the county chair of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway surrounded by Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the state. The 2021 U.S. Census population estimate for the city was 139,594. The Waco metropolitan statistical area consists of McLennan and Falls counties, which had a 2010 population of 234,906. Falls County was bonus to the Waco MSA in 2013. The 2021 U.S. census population estimate for the Waco metropolitan area was 280,428.

Indigenous peoples occupied areas along the river for thousands of years. In historic times, the area of present-day Waco was occupied by the Wichita Indian tribe known as the “Waco” (Spanish: Hueco or Huaco).

In 1824, Thomas M. Duke was sent to consider the area after swear erupted surrounded by the Waco people and the European settlers.
His story to Stephen F. Austin, described the Waco village:

After other violence, Austin halted an attempt to ruin their village in retaliation. In 1825, he made a settlement with them.
The Waco were eventually pushed out of the region, settling north near present-day Fort Worth. In 1872, they were moved onto a reservation in Oklahoma with new Wichita tribes. In 1902, the Waco time-honored allotments of house and became credited US citizens.
Neil McLennan settled in an Place near the South Bosque River in 1838. Jacob De Cordova bought McLennan’s property and hired a former Texas Ranger and surveyor named George B. Erath to inspect the area. In 1849, Erath expected the first block of the city. Property owners wanted to make known the city Lamartine, but Erath convinced them to herald the Place Waco Village, after the Indians who had lived there. In March 1849, Shapley Ross built the first house in Waco, a double-log cabin, on a bluff overlooking the springs. His daughter Kate was the first settler child born in Waco. Because of this, Ross is considered to have been the founder of Waco, Texas.