WACO History

WACO History. Waiting for WACO Club. , The Morris Hotel/Lollis House was built in 1852 by a group of businessmen headed by Troy merchant Preserved Smith. The incomplete hotel was sold to Charles Morris in 1584. He completed the structure and operated as the Morris House 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 or 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 the hotel rooms as dressing rooms, a feature that made the hotel a popular lodging location for those who performed at 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 by 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 registry. It was not uncommon for a person to pay as much as $900 to another hotel guest to be put at the head of the guest registry in order to receive delivery of their aircraft in a shorter amount of time., [Captions:] , The Lollis Hotel 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 flew a WACO included Hollywood movie producer Henry King, air racer Gladys O'Donnell, and newspaper columnist for Hearst newspaper, Lady Gracey Hay Drummond-Hay, shown in the photo on the left., from 1923 to 1929 WACO Airplanes were being produced in as many as 10 different locations in Troy and were transported or rolled through the town across Adams Street Bridge to Judd Boak's 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., Charles Meyers was hired to complete the design of the WACO 10 after the death of Sam Junkin. His reputation as an air race performer was enhanced by his pet monkey Whirlwind Johnnie, who went with him to the shows. Charles became the WACO test pilot in 1926. He was responsible for the tapering modification of the WACO 10. He left in the mid 20's to join the Great Lakes Aircraft Company, where he helped design the famous Great Lakes Trainer., WACO Aircraft Company production line on Peters Road, 1929 to 1946.