WACO History

WACO History. Waiting for WACO Club. , The Morris House / Lollis Hotel was built in 1852 by a group of businessmen headed by Troy merchant, Preserved Smith. The incomplete hotel was sold to Charles Morris in 1854. He completed the structure and operated it as the Morris House Hotel. When a new owner acquired the property the name was changed to Lollis Hotel. , Troy’s downtown was home to many second and third story opera houses and the hotel served as a lodging location for many famous performers who visited Troy and performed in those venues. Mayo Hall an opera house that seated 500 people, was in the adjoining brick structure located to the north of the Lollis Hotel. It had pass through doors so performers could use their hotel rooms for dressing rooms, a feature that made the hotel a popular lodging location for those who performed ay Mayo Hall., Sometime in 1925 the “Waiting for WACO Club” was formed with headquarters located in the Lollis Hotel, known today as the Morris House. The “Waiting for WACO Club” was a phrase used for the group of individuals waiting to pick up their airplanes being made at the WACO Aircraft Company. The aircraft company officials determined who was next in line to receive their airplanes off the production line by the order they appeared in the hotel registr. It was not uncommon for a person to pay as much as $900.00 to another hotel guest to be put at the head of the guest registry in order to receive delivery of their airplane in a shorter amount of time., The Hotel Lollis was the premier and preferred lodging location for many of the people who traveled to Troy to purchase and or pick up their WACO airplanes. Some of the famous people who purchases and flew WACO’s included Hollywood movie produced Henry King, air racer Gladys O’Donnell and newspaper columnist for Hearst newspapers, Lady Grace Hay Drummond-Hay, shown in the photo below., From 1927-1929 WACO airplanes were being produced in as many as 10 different locations in Troy and were transported or rolled through the town across the Adams Street Bridge to Judd Boaks Hay Field for final assembly. This is where the Hobart Arena is now located. After final assembly the airplanes were tested and then flown to WACO dealers or shipped to dealers worldwide.