The Year Was 1873...

October 10th, 2025
by Rief Kessler

The year was 1873. Fighting from the American Civil War had only just ceased. Henry Ford was 35 years yet from introducing his Model T. The average blacksmith or carpenter worked sixty hours per week and earned about $11. And somewhere in central Texas in a town called Palo Alto, a new church had been formed.
The year was 1873 ... 150 years ago!

But, surely, the First Baptist Church of Killeen is not the only entity to be celebrating their sesquicentennial this year. Here are some friends that are also 150 years old in 2023!

	Our very own Bell Baptist Association was first established in 1873, then operating under the name Salado Baptist Association. They were led by Director of Missions Tom Henderson from 1991 until his retirement in 2025.

	Prolific hymn writer Fanny Crosby penned her well-loved hymn "Blessed Assurance" in 1873, later appearing in three different hymnals and periodicals that same year. Fanny went on to write texts for more than 8,000 gospel songs.

	Horatio Spafford penned "It Is Well with My Soul" after the French ocean liner Ville du Havre went down in November, 1873, taking the lives of all four of his daughters. His wife, rescued to Wales, cabled back to Horatio in Chicago, "Saved alone."

	In 1873, AddRan Male and Female College, one of the first coed universities west of the Mississippi, took on a new charter in partnership with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to become Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

	Amid confusion between soccer and rugby, members from Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers, and Yale founded the Intercollegiate Football Association to adopt a common code for the emerging sport of American football.

	Levi Strauss & Co. and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for an "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings" on May 20, 1873, introducing the world to blue jeans and reimagining how fabrics are used in fashion.

	The Sholes & Glidden 'Type Writer,' developed in 1873, was the first device to rapidly print alphanumeric characters on paper in any order. The type writer also showcased the newly developed QWERTY keyboard layout for the first time.

	Fred & Lewis Hatch built what is believed to be America's first variation of the silo in August of 1873. Perfecting on existing European silage advancements, the Hatches built their silos from an in-ground foundation to a cylindrical, rather than square, shape.

	Two years before the inaugural running of the Kentucky Derby, Pimlico Race Course introduced the Preakness to Baltimore race fans in 1873. Today, the Preakness Stakes joins the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in forming the Triple Crown.

	Rodgers & Hammerstein's classic musical Carousel about a romance between a carousel barker and a millworker in Maine took place in a fictionalized 1873.

	Contrary to pop culture references, sea turtles do not often live to be 150 years old. Most documented sea turtles appear to live between 30 and 50 years. Sorry, dude!

The Year Was 1873...

1873

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