Cotton Palace

The Cotton Palace was an exhibition ground in the area of Clay Avenue, Dutton Avenue and South Sixteenth Street in Waco, Texas, from 1895 to 1930. It was built to highlight cotton-growing activities in the area.

First Cotton Palace

The choice to establish a cotton exhibition in Waco was likely a result of Waco's role as one of the largest cotton markets in the region, with over 120,000 bales of cotton traded in the city in 1883. The city's location near the Bosque and Brazos rivers gave it a fertile environment for cotton production.

Following a campaign where Waco residents raised $40,000 to build the facility, plans were drawn up in 1894 for the Texas Cotton Palace in Padgitt Park.

Construction was swift, and on November 8, 1894, the first Cotton Palace exhibition was opened by Texas governor James Hogg, which began a month of festivities.

The building itself was short-lived and, on January 19, 1895, burned to the ground.

Second Cotton Palace

Despite the popularity of the first Cotton Palace exhibition, a movement to rebuild the Cotton Palace did not occur for 15 years. In 1910, the Young Man's Business League of Waco sold stock and raised over $100,000 to build a second, significantly expanded, Cotton Palace, with Albert C. Clifton, YMBL president, also serving as president of the board of the directors for the new Cotton Palace. The Cotton Palace's supporters purchased Padgitt Park from its namesake, Tom Padgitt, and expanded beyond the building itself to build a 10,000-seat arena, a racetrack, an auditorium, a zoo, carnival grounds, and a football field.