Mount Carmel Center

Mount Carmel Center was a religious compound on roughly 940 acres northeast of Waco, with several residential and administrative buildings for the community. The property also included farming land and communal areas for education and daily life.

Victor Houteff established the compound in 1935 near Lake Waco as a center for his religious community. Florence Houteff moved the location to the present site in 1957, where the group lived until the federal operation in 1993.

The name comes from the biblical mountain in Israel and points to the religious vision of the group that lived here. Visitors today find only a small memorial near the entrance, where family members sometimes place flowers or written messages.

The area sits in open rural terrain and is reached by unpaved roads that can become difficult to navigate after rain. Visitors should note that there are no public facilities or shade on site.

The compound had an underground shelter that residents dug in the late 1980s and stocked with supplies. This space later played a central role during the siege, when many people stayed inside it.