Praetorian Building, Insurance company building in downtown Waco, United States.

The Praetorian Building is a seven-story office structure in Chicago School style located at Franklin Avenue in downtown Waco. The design features large windows, a gray granite foundation, and detailed terra-cotta ornamentation that exemplify this architectural approach.

The seven-story building was designed by the Dallas firm C. W. Bulger & Co. and built in 1915 by Hughes O'Rourke Construction for the Praetorian Insurance Company, whose Dallas head office had been designed by C. E. Bulger in 1905. Praetorian sold it in 1956, the year it became the Southwestern Building; it had been the Service Mutual Building in 1934, Franklin Tower, and Williams Tower from 1989 to 1996.

The building's name comes from the Praetorian Insurance Company, which commissioned it in 1915; its Dallas head office had been designed by C. E. Bulger in 1905. The Waco branch was designed by the Dallas firm C. W. Bulger & Co. and built by Hughes O'Rourke Construction. Its successive names mark its later uses: Franklin Tower, Service Mutual Building in 1934, Southwestern Building in 1956, and Williams Tower from 1989 to 1996.

The building now serves mixed-use purposes with apartments, shops, and offices that you can view from outside and explore at ground level. Visit during daytime hours when the streets are active and you can see the facade details clearly.

The building's name changed with its owners: it was the Franklin Tower, then the Service Mutual Building in 1934, the Southwestern Building in 1956 when Praetorian sold it, and the Williams Tower from 1989 to 1996. The Dallas Praetorian Building that housed the insurer's main office was designed by C. E. Bulger in 1905, a decade before this Waco branch went up.