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The History of the Austin College Building and Old Main at Sam Houston State University

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Title: The History of the Austin College Building and Old Main at Sam Houston State University
Language: English
Authors: Singer, Erin, Shields, Samantha
Source: American Educational History Journal. 2017 44(2):87-101.
Availability: IAP - Information Age Publishing, Inc. P.O. Box 79049, Charlotte, NC 28271-7047. Tel: 704-752-9125; Fax: 704-752-9113; e-mail: infoage@infoagepub.com; Web site: http://www.infoagepub.com/american-educational-history-journal.html
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 15
Publication Date: 2017
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Descriptors: Educational History, Teacher Education Programs, School Buildings, Universities, Student Attitudes, College Students
Geographic Terms: Texas
ISSN: 1535-0584
Abstract: Austin Hall and Old Main serve as the heart of what is now Sam Houston State University. The buildings' rich histories help one to understand how Sam Houston State University and its proud teacher education heritage came to be. To begin with Austin Hall's story, the University's original building has a unique and interesting tale that journeys through Texas' history. Eventually Old Main would join Austin Hall, becoming Texas' first building to be purposed for teacher training. The history of the Austin College Building and Old Main at Sam Houston State University is presented in this article.
Abstractor: ERIC
Number of References: 13
Entry Date: 2017
Access URL: https://www.infoagepub.com/products/American-Educational-History-Journal-Vol-44
Accession Number: EJ1158642
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0131343271;3ao01jan.17;2018Aug22.12:39;v2.2.500</anid> <jsection id="AN0131343271-1"> ARTICLES</jsection> <title id="AN0131343271-2">THE HISTORY OF THE AUSTIN COLLEGE BUILDING AND OLD MAIN AT SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY </title> <p>The "Pit" at Sam Houston State University has different meaning for different people. As a graduate of Sam Houston State University, I always wondered about the "Pit" that I passed on my way to and from class. Students would gather there to socialize, play music, and study. On occasions, when the weather permitted, professors would even hold classes in the "Pit". I was never fully aware of the "Pit's" historical relevance to Sam Houston State University until after I had graduated and began doing historical research about the university. Little did I know that this hole in the ground represented the University's formation. The "Pit" is literally the foundation of a building, a university, and teacher education.</p> <p>Austin Hall and Old Main serve as the heart of what is now Sam Houston State University. The buildings' rich histories help one to understand how Sam Houston State University and its proud teacher education heritage came to be. To begin with Austin Hall's story, the University's original building has a unique and interesting tale that journeys through Texas' history. Eventually Old Main would join Austin Hall, becoming Texas' first building to be purposed for teacher training.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-3">HUNTSVILLE</hd> <p></p> <p>Nestled amongst East Texas' hills and tall pines, Huntsville was founded in 1835 by an explorer and adventurer named Pleasant Gray. In its earliest days, the city "emerged as a trading post and social center" (Littlejohn 2009, 7). During the 1840s, the new city grew as citizens built homes, churches, businesses, and schools. Over the next thirty years, Huntsville continued to thrive as the state legislature chose to locate a Texas Penitentiary and the first normal college in the town. The addition of the normal college anchored the tradition and focus on education that took root in Huntsville.</p> <p>In 1834, Pleasant Gray arrived in a Texas controlled by Mexico. It was "the Mexican government's generous new colonization policy, which promised hundreds of acres of land to those willing to settle Texas" that drew Pleasant (Littlejohn 2009, 7). The offer of free land was appealing, so Pleasant submitted a request to the Mexican government on November 16, 1834, which was granted eight months later. Pleasant and his wife, Hannah, were granted their one league, or 4428 acres, of land on July 12, 1835. Upon acquiring the land, Pleasant further developed Huntsville, starting with a new trading post and city center. Later in 1835, Pleasant was joined by his brother, Ephraim, who brought his family from Huntsville, Alabama. The two brothers "borrowed" the name Huntsville to temporarily name their "new outpost and the name stuck" (Humphries 1978, 24). This initial development continued to flourish and advance throughout the following decades.</p> <p>The Gray brother's pride for their new settlement was contagious and was the impetus for its flourishing growth. The small outpost continued to expand due to the brother's vision for both Huntsville's trading and school systems. While the Gray families started out solely trading with the local Bidai Indians, who had settled the land in the late 1600s, they soon reached out to other migrant families arriving in the area. To help set up a school system, Pleasant donated a portion of his land for a brick building to serve as a boy's school. Because of Huntsville's success as a thriving center, the city was incorporated in January of 1845 and was chosen as the seat of Walker County the very next year (Littlejohn 2009, 7).</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-4">SCHOOLING IN HUNTSVILLE</hd> <p></p> <p>"Though states in the northeast experienced a common school revival as early as the 1830s, the tuition-free public schools were never a priority in Republic-era or antebellum Texas, leaving educational roles to individual communities, or more often, to religious organizations" (Wolfe 2012, 12). In as early as 1844, with a population of roughly 900, a five-acre land grant from Pleasant Gray established Huntsville's school system. The Brick Academy, also referred to as the Huntsville Male and Female Academy, opened and was later chartered as Huntsville Academy in April of 1846. In addition to the Brick Academy, Huntsville had a second school open in the fall of 1845 named Stovall's Male and Female Academy. As time went on, each of the two schools began to take on a more specialized role in the community. In 1848, the original Brick Academy became an all-female institution, whose faculty included the likes of Melinda Rankin. Ms. Rankin came to Texas in 1847 as a Presbyterian missionary and ended up penning a well-known book, titled Texas, in 1850. While the Brick Academy catered to girls, in early 1848, Stovall's Male and Female Academy was chartered as Huntsville Male Institute and served only boys. Dr. Samuel McKinney served as a faculty member at the Institute and later as the first president of Austin College.</p> <p>By 1845, Texas had won its independence from Mexico and joined the Union. With its primary schools opened and functioning, Huntsville began to look towards higher education. In the fall of 1844, the Texas Education Society submitted a petition to the Congress of the Republic of Texas to charter a Baptist University. In February of 1845, Republic President Anson Jones signed the Act of Congress officially establishing Baylor University. Upon being authorized, a site was sought for the University's permanent home. "Four communities made bids to be the location: Travis, Huntsville, Shannon's Prairie, and Independence" (Baylor University n.d.). In the end, Independence was chosen for Baylor University's location. Even though Huntsville would not be home to Baylor University, its people still aspired to attract an institution of higher education to the area.</p> <p>Also at this time, the city of Huntsville was in competition to be named the Texas capital. "Huntsville, like many other communities, had high hope for such an honor and action was taken to add Huntsville's name to the raffle. Many citizens even designated the five acres atop the highest point in the community as "Capitol Hill" in anticipation" (Building SHSU 2003). Huntsville was not chosen as the state's capital, but the city was confident that "Capitol Hill" would make a fine site for a learning institution. Determined not to be thwarted in their efforts, in 1849, the Huntsvillearea Presbyterians moved forward in securing both the land and monies to establish the now chartered Austin College.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-5">AUSTIN COLLEGE</hd> <p></p> <p>It was not until 1876, with the establishment of Texas A&M University, that the State of Texas funded institutions of higher education. Until that time, colleges were privately funded. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, various religious congregations were expanding across Texas, establishing church schools, academies, and colleges. In Huntsville, one such congregation actively at work was the Presbyterians. Reverend Daniel D. Baker, "one of the more dynamic and mission-oriented Presbyterian ministers in Texas", was appointed in June of 1849 by the Presbytery of Brazos to a three-man committee enlisted to evaluate the area for an acceptable location to establish a Presbyterian College (Humphries 1978, 25). As written by Wolfe (2012) in the National Register of Historic Places describing Rev. Baker's site search efforts in Huntsville, Baker recalled in his diary that on August 10 [1849] -</p> <p>A town meeting was immediately called. Colonel Y. (Yoakum), Mr. W. and other gentlemen made speeches in favor of the enterprise. Subscription papers were then put in circulation, and in a few days some eight thousand dollars were subscribed, to be paid in five annual installments, for the erection and support of a College by the Presbyterian Church, at or within a mile of Huntsville, Texas, to be called Baker College. (<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref1">10</reflink>)</p> <p>After the meeting, Colonel Yoakum drafted the college's charter, which Rev. Baker then submitted at the next Presbytery meeting on October 13, 1849. The committee gave its approval for the charter and then appointed a second committee to obtain consent from the Texas Legislature. Before sending the charter to the state, Rev. Baker declined having the college named after him and recommended the it be named Austin College, in honor of the Texas pioneer Stephen F. Austin. Governor Wood, after receiving approval from the State Legislature, signed into law on November 22, 1849, the charter titled, Act to Incorporate Austin College (Wolfe 2012, 10). The Act to Incorporate Austin College also set in place the original Board of Trustees for the college, a group of 13 men who would help to oversee the college's planning and organization from the ground up.</p> <p>In late 1849 and early 1850, Rev. Baker served as president pro tem for the Presbytery until the Board of Trustees could elect a president. Rev. Baker nominated Dr. Samuel McKinney to be the college's inaugural president. Baker knew McKinney from his time in Mississippi, prior to coming to Texas, where Dr. McKinney served both as a Presbyterian minister and also the president of Chalmers Institute, one of Mississippi's oldest universities. At this time, after previously been persuaded to come to Texas by Baker, Dr. McKinney had taken charge of the Huntsville Male Institute. In April of 1850, the Austin College's Board of Trustees elected Dr. McKinney as the college's first president and made plans to move forward with breaking ground for the college on "Capitol Hill."</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-6">THE AUSTIN COLLEGE BUILDING</hd> <p></p> <p>In early spring of 1851, the Austin College Board of Trustees worked with local Huntsville contractor William Barrett to design and construct the inaugural building. Prior to working with the College's Board of Trustees, William Barrett worked as the master carpenter on the State Penitentiary built in Huntsville alongside Superintendent and well-known master builder, Abner H. Cook (Wolfe 2012, 11). Paul Culp (1989), the former Sam Houston State University's Special Collections librarian, noted -</p> <p>It has been traditionally maintained that Austin College was designed by Abner Cook, the master builder who created the finest residences in Texas before the Civil War (notably the Governor's Mansion and a number of other beautiful houses still standing in Austin), but evidence for this is largely circumstantial. (Building SMSU 2003)</p> <p>With an estimated $2.27 million budget, William Barrett set out to design and build Austin College; a building that would serve both the community and its students (Cordova 2015). Plans were made, reviewed, and finalized by the Board of Trustees in spring of 1851. Austin College's charter building would be named Austin Hall. From its inception, "events in Austin Hall's long history reflect the importance of education to the people of Texas and the citizens of Huntsville, and the struggle and effort necessary to achieve it" (SHSU Public Relations n.d.).</p> <p>Using soft sand-molded bricks produced at the local state penitentiary, the building's cornerstone was laid on June 24, 1851. The cornerstone contained a copy of the United States Constitution, a list of the names on Austin College's first Board of Trustees, and currency samples from the original 13 colonies (Building SHSU 2003). Austin Hall is a two-story, 80' x 50' rectangular structure built in the Federal or Georgian Colonial Style. It represents a "solid example of Greek Revival public architecture" (Texas Historical Commission 2013). The combination of columns, a large wood cornice, and the building's symmetry define and characterize it as Greek Revival style. "Austin Hall's Greek Revival design, quite popular in antebellum Texas, conveys strength and refinement and exemplifies the ideals of the classical education taught to those earliest college students" (Wolfe 2012, 9).</p> <p>Austin Hall has two equally important elevations, one facing the north and the other facing the south (Wolfe 2012). Each elevation houses its own 42' x 12' rectangular porch. Though both the northern and southern elevations serve as main entrances to the building, it was the northern elevation that served as the original building entrance. Austin Hall's northern facade allows visitors to see a great distance from its hilltop home. Columns were original to the northern elevation of Austin Hall; in 1927, columns were added to the southern elevation to match the northern side. The building's southern facing front boasts a wide Neoclassical entry portico with four Doric columns guarding the entrance (Ragsdale 2011, 161). Each column is double-height and finished with Portland cement plaster to support the porch roofs (Wolfe, 2012).</p> <p>The building is visually symmetrical with a matching north-facing portico for balance. It has a low-pitched hipped roof, meaning all the roof 's sides slope downward towards the walls with a fairly low or gentle slope. Centered on the low-pitched hipped metal roof is a wooden cupola, standing 22' tall and octagonal in shape, which contains four arch openings facing the cardinal directions. Atop the wooden cupola sits a metal onionshaped dome with a ball and spire finial (Wolfe, 2012). There is a wide, white cornice ledge of horizontal decorative molding that crowns the top perimeter of the building.</p> <p>For contrast, the masonry work on the building was completed in redorange brick, while the window trim, columns, and roof cupola were all completed in white. Each white window is framed with a pair of dark colored shutters. The brick and mortar structure was constructed with sixteen-inchthick walls. Tall nine over nine multi-light, double-hung wood windows line the sides of the building, running in two parallel rows—one row on the first floor, and the parallel row on the second floor. The entrance door is also flanked with narrower multi-light rectangular sidelights and transom. Three sides of Austin Hall have wooden exterior doors, whose transom windows were originally used for schoolroom ventilation. "Its refined style reflects the level of culture and economic development of Huntsville in the early 1850s" (Texas Historical Commission 2013).</p> <p>Today, Austin Hall, atop "Capitol Hill," is addressed 1741 University Avenue in Huntsville. At the time it was built in 1851 and 1852, Austin Hall was the only building upon the hilltop, as well as the sole building of the college, until the fall of 1888 when the Old Main building's construction began a few feet to the north. As student enrollment rose to more than 300, additional classroom space was needed. In 1881, Austin Hall's cupola was removed and a third story with a mansard roof, characterized with four sloping sides which become steeper halfway down, was added. The third floor remained intact until the 1926-1927 academic year when it was removed, being replaced with a relatively flatter roof.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-7">AUSTIN COLLEGE</hd> <p></p> <p>The construction of the Austin College building began in the summer of 1851 and the Board had hoped that the Austin College building would be complete and ready for classes by the start of school in August of 1852. That was not the case, but amidst construction, classes began in the neighboring school building in October of that year. The building was finally finished in 1853. It housed ten classrooms in its two stories — two of which were built oversized for the use during school assemblies.</p> <p>When Austin College opened its doors to students in its first academic school year, 1850-1851, it was said that the admission standards for incoming freshman were to be taken seriously.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-8">ADMISSION TO THE COLLEGE</hd> <p></p> <p>Candidates for the Freshman Class will be examined on the following studies:</p> <p>English Grammar; Geography; Vulgar, and Decimal</p> <p>Fractions; Latin and Greek Grammar, including Latin Prosody;</p> <p>Caesar's Commentaries; Cicero's Orations, and Jacob's</p> <p>Greek Reader, or their equivalent. First Lessons in</p> <p>Algebra. (Humpheries 1978, 28)</p> <p>Not only were the admissions standards rigorous, the four-year curriculum was "rigorous and was rooted exclusively in the trivium [an introductory curriculum of a medieval university, involving three areas of study—grammar, rhetoric, and logic, the foundation for the quadrivium curriculum] and the quadrivium [a medieval university curriculum involving four areas of study—arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music]. Austin College's Board of Trustees established for the 1850-1851 term the following courses of study:</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-9">FRESHMAN CLASS</hd> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"><tr><td>First Session</td><td>Second Session</td></tr><tr><td>The first six books of the Aeneid</td><td>Xenophon's Odes of Horace; Xenophon's Memorabilia;</td></tr><tr><td>Anabasis; Greek Testament; Latin and Greek [sic] Exercises; Algebra.</td><td>Geometry; Latin and Greek Exercises; Greek Testament continued; [sic]</td></tr></table></div> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0131343271-10">SOPHOMORE CLASS</hd> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"><tr><td>First Session</td><td>Second Session</td></tr><tr><td>Satires of Horace; Alcestis of Euripides; Trigonometry; Mensuration, Surveying And Navigation; Latin and Greek Exercises; Greek Testament, continued. Testament,</td><td>Cicero de Officiis; de Amicitia; de Senectute; Homer's Iliad; Euripides; Linear Perspective and Analytical Geometry; Latin and Greek Exercises; Greek</td></tr></table></div> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0131343271-11">JUNIOR CLASS</hd> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"><tr><td>First Session</td><td>Second Session</td></tr><tr><td>Juvenal; Sophocles; Spanish or French Languages, ad libitum; Differential and Integral Calculus; Latin & Greek Exercises; Greek Testament, continued; Natural Theology, and Evidences of Christianity</td><td>Livy, Tacitus, Demosthenes, Mechanics, Architecture. and Astronomy, Rhetoric, Greek Testament, continued.</td></tr></table></div> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0131343271-12">SENIOR CLASS</hd> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <div class="table-size-normal table-border"><table border="1"><tr><td>First Session</td><td>Second Session</td></tr><tr><td>Persius. Longinus. Hydro-dynamics, Pneumatics, Electricity, Magnetism and Optics, With Experiments, Mental philosophy.(Rawle's.) [sic]</td><td>Moral Philosophy, Meteorology, Geology. Chemistry, With Experiments, Political Economy, Constitution U.S.A. General Review of Studies."</td></tr></table></div> </ephtml> </p> <p>(Humperies 1978, 27).</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-13">AUSTIN HALL ENDURES</hd> <p></p> <p>Until 1982, Austin Hall only had minor upkeep modifications made to the building. The Jewel Garden was put in on the west side of the building in 1948 and air conditioning was added in 1952. Austin Hall was awarded a State Historical Survey Committee Seal in 1964. A new cupola was added, and the building was rededicated in 1986. In 2011, a $2.2 million restoration was paid for by several endowments, foundations, and donations from both alumni and local businesses. One of the most cherished and interesting traditions related to Austin Hall occurred when graduating seniors would carve their names into the lower level bricks around the base of the building. During the renovations, these bricks were temporarily removed, only to be re-mortared and put back where they originally were. Austin Hall was again rededicated in 2012, as well as being added to the National Register of Historic Places (Building SHSU 2003). Today, Austin Hall still proudly stands and</p> <p>is the most visually impressive building on the Sam Houston State University campus. It has become the central architectural symbol of the university and is the oldest building used continuously for educational purposes west of the Mississippi River. Visually, the building is … imposingly massive, acting as a sort of anchor for the campus (Ragsdale 2011, 161).</p> <p>Currently, Sam Houston State University is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in Texas and the first institution of its type to be established in the state (Education World 2016). Austin Hall has always been the heart of the campus, even before the other three hundred buildings were added to the campus.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-14">SAM HOUSTON RETIRES TO HUNTSVILLE</hd> <p></p> <p>Sam Houston originally moved to Texas in 1832 and joined the settlers in the fight against Mexico. On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston and his troops defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was voted president of Texas in both 1836 and 1841 and senator in 1845. He became the Texas governor in 1859.</p> <p>He was on the first board of trustees for Austin College. General Sam Houston had missed previous board meetings about the structure to be built on the land, but was in attendance for the laying of the cornerstone of the Austin College Building on June 24, 1851. Jack Humphries wrote in the East Texas Historical Journal,</p> <p>The stone was then set "in due and ancient form," and the crowd retired to a nearby grove where President McKinney delivered an address. Several accounts record that General Houston rose from his platform seat and held an umbrella over President McKinney during the address to shield him from the sun. Sterne, in his diary account of the proceedings, states that the activities of the day were concluded with a large public dinner-a "bountiful repast" (1978, 25)</p> <p>Austin College President McKinney and Sam Houston had a falling out in 1851 over a corn crop that McKinney had raised on Houston's land. Two years later, McKinney resigned as president of the university when he thought Houston had violated the charter. Sam Houston and his family soon moved from Huntsville to Independence, Texas. The move was probably in the best interest of the Houston family as his niece's husband (Rev. N.A. Penland) took a position at Austin College shortly before McKinney resigned. Not long after the Houston's move to Independence, rumors began swirling of Penland's copious use of alcohol and opium, and he did not last long at the college.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-15">AUSTIN COLLEGE BECOMES SAM HOUSTON NORMAL INSTITUTE</hd> <p></p> <p>The Civil War began in 1861 and "Austin College never recovered from the Civil War. In the post war years' enrollment dwindled to a handful, and it became increasingly difficult to raise funds" (Humphries, 1977). A yellow fever outbreak in 1867 decimated the town. Discussions about moving the college began in 1874 and the college was finally moved to Sherman, Texas in 1876. The Austin College building was used as a private school for boys, called the Mitchell College, which failed within a year. The Methodist Church, who acquired the building in 1877, then sold the building back to Huntsville for $346.00.</p> <p>The citizens of Huntsville petitioned Governor O.M. Roberts in 1879 to establish the first teacher training school in Texas. Their petition was granted and the Sam Houston Normal Institute was established on San Jacinto Day, April 21, 1879. Sam Houston Normal Institutes' dedicated goal was to train teachers for Texas public schools and it became the first teacher-training school in the southwestern United States. In 1923 Sam Houston Normal Institute's name was changed to Sam Houston State Teachers College, and in 1964 the name was changed again to Sam Houston State College. It wasn't until September 1, 1970 that the Texas legislature changed the name to Sam Houston State University (Cashion 2004, 130).</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-16">THE OLD MAIN BUILDING</hd> <p></p> <p>The Austin College Building was the center of the college, but within a few years the building could no longer accommodate the number of students enrolled. The school was flourishing and enrollment went up. Another building was needed. The Texas legislature allocated $40,000 for the construction of a new building on the campus. The Austin College building was the only building of Sam Houston Normal Institute for the first eleven years and housed everything until the Old Main Building was completed in 1890.</p> <p>School administrators chose Galveston architect, Alfred Muller, to design the new building. Originally from Prussia (now part of Germany), Muller graduated from the prestigious Royal Academy of Architecture in Berlin. He emigrated to the United States, first working in New York, then Washington D.C., and finally arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1886. He worked with Nathaniel W. Tobey Jr. on several projects, and his first large project came through a competition for the design for the Galveston City Hall in 1888. His later projects were more modest, but Old Main in Huntsville is widely considered his masterpiece.</p> <p>The cornerstone for the Old Main Building was laid September 23, 1889 and was dedicated on September 22, 1890. Alfred Muller was in constant disagreement with the supervising architect Edward Northcraft and the builders, A.J. and J.O. Wilson. They argued extensively over the foundation of the building; Northcraft and the Wilsons stating that it was unstable and would not hold the enormous building. Ironically, it is the only thing that remains of the building and is now referred to as the "Pit". The Victorian Gothic style structure was 157 feet long and 92 feet wide and the first floor was comprised of "recitation rooms" or classrooms. The second floor was completely dedicated to the Sam Houston Memorial Hall which could seat 1,500 people. Twenty-three stained glass windows displayed throughout the building commemorated educational leaders and significant events in Texas history. "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" were two of the more prominent windows in addition to the center window on the north side of the building that honored Sam Houston. The recital hall houses a pipe organ that was installed in 1894, and a replica of the basrelief found on the Parthenon on the east wall behind the organ. The two statues of Athena and the Winged Victory of Samothrace were also prominently displayed in the hall.</p> <p>Alfred Muller died in 1896 of typhoid fever. Cynthia Beeman and Dan Utley (2013) wrote in History Along the Way: Stories Beyond the Texas Roadside Markers:</p> <p>Not long after Mullers death, Northcraft received the commission for the Main Building at Southwest Texas Normal College. Borrowing heavily on the principal plans for the Huntsville structure- work he had closely reviewed and supervised for years—the San Marcos architect employed a somewhat similar design, although his lacked the exuberant exterior ornamentation of the earlier structure (<reflink idref="bib181" id="ref2">181</reflink>).</p> <p>The sister building to Old Main in San Marcos still stands. As Sam Houston Normal Institute grew into Sam Houston State University, newer buildings were constructed, and the Austin Hall and Old Main buildings fell into disrepair. In fact, both Old Main buildings at Sam Houston and Texas State University were badly in need of reconstruction, and on February 12, 1982, the wakeup call sounded for both.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-17">DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD MAIN BUILDING</hd> <p></p> <p>In the early morning hours of February 12, 1982, freshman student David Clement and friends noticed something that looked like steam arising from Old Main. He and his friends ran to investigate the building. Lisa Trow, editor for the Huntsville Item, quoted Clement as saying, "It was shaking violently, making a thunderous noise". They were afraid that the building was going to explode. They immediately ran to find a security guard and he called the fire department to report the fire at 1:18 a.m. What followed was the most devastating event Sam Houston State University had ever experienced.</p> <p>Fire departments from Conroe, Navasota, Livingston, Madisonville, and everywhere in between sent firetrucks to battle the blaze. It was estimated that between 75–100 firefighters were fully engaged in battling the inferno. Students and faculty even formed a bucket line to try to help the firefighters in their impossible job. Despite their efforts, the building continued to burn. The heat became so intense that glass from the windows fused to the stonework. Many students claimed that the noise from the fire was deafening. The stained-glass windows exploded and thousands of shards of glass fell to the ground below. There was nothing anyone could do but stand by and watch helplessly. To the horror of all, Austin Hall, which was located only a few feet from Old Main, began to burn as well. When the firemen finally realized that they were not going to be able to save Old Main, they turned their attention to saving Austin Hall. Sixteen hours later, the blaze had been extinguished and Sam Houston State had a gaping hole where the Old Main once stood and Austin Hall had been severely damaged.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-18">THE MYSTERY OF THE OLD MAIN FIRE</hd> <p></p> <p>No one is sure of what actually started the fire and it is still unclear to this day as to what actually happened on February 12, 1982. Arson had been ruled out fairly early, but rumors persisted. Freddie Gordon, who was the last person to be inside Old Main, told the Huntsville Item that the building was fine when she left earlier that evening. She claimed that she had not noticed anything out of the ordinary in the building. Freddie had left work early that night because the building had been so cold, but she had not adjusted the thermostats when she left. The stage lights had been notoriously flammable when in use due to the lack of modern wiring, but many believe that the fire started in the attic. Newly dry cleaned band uniforms had been stored in the attic that day. Perhaps the fumes from the dry-cleaning chemicals coupled with no ventilation in the attic started the fire. Many others suspected the president of Sam Houston State University, Elliott Bowers, of having the building destroyed because of the cost involved in restoring the aging building. Academic records and teaching supplies were destroyed and over $400,000 worth of broadcasting equipment was lost. Regardless of the actual cause of the fire, the loss of the building was a blow to the Sam Houston State students, faculty, and alumni.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-19">STUDENTS' FEELINGS ABOUT OLD MAIN</hd> <p></p> <p>Students of Sam Houston State University remained in shock for days after the fire was extinguished and many claimed that the loss of the build ing was tantamount to losing a close family member. David LaFrancis, an alumnus of Sam Houston State University, recalled in an email to Barbara Keivit-Mason in 2007,</p> <p>As I walked over to the quadrangle I encountered a friend who was leaving [the fire]. She had grown up in Huntsville and was almost inconsolable. From that point on her reaction pretty much reflected how that day felt … I felt I was in the way just standing there with so many people in the cold weather, but mostly it was too painful to watch … I had an attachment to that place-I would hope that anyone who had attended Sam Houston up to that day must have felt the same way … Old Main was a big part of the college atmosphere at Sam Houston and I always enjoyed seeing it from wherever I was on campus. It was very hard to see the symbol of my university going up in billowing smoke.</p> <p>There would never be another building like Old Main on the Sam Houston State campus. Many students had attended classes in the building over the years and on February 4, 1982 there had been a recital in the auditorium. In 1983, the time capsule was discovered under the building's cornerstone and opened and it contained campus documents from the 1880's. A new time capsule was buried at the center of the Old Main memorial in 1987 and it contains news stories and photographs of Old Main before and after the fire, a student catalog, and a letter from President Bowers "To those who follow in our footsteps" in which he reflects upon the building's uniqueness. The newest capsule is to be opened in 2087.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-20">THE REBUILDING OF AUSTIN HALL AND THE OLD MAIN MEMORIAL</hd> <p></p> <p>Before Old Main burned down, the Texas Antiquities Committee had considered several buildings on the Sam Houston State campus for designation as state landmarks (Old Main, Austin Hall and the Peabody Library built in 1901), but for Old Main, it was not meant to be. Only days after the fire, students and alumni were determined to see Old Main rebuilt. Students were encouraged to write letters to the University of Texas System Board of Regents to plead for the restoration of the building. Larry Browder, state representative for the 18th Congressional district, promised to work on an emergency restoration appropriation when the legislature re-convened in early 1983, but unfortunately the cost was too great. According to the 1982 Medallion, "The University agreed to hire a demolition firm to clean up the Old Main site, carefully dismantling any unstable walls and salvaging as much of the brick as possible" (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref3">1</reflink>). Many of the bricks were salvaged, but were never used. Students stole many of them, but for the most part the pile of bricks remained unused.</p> <hd id="AN0131343271-21">OLD MAIN'S LEGACY</hd> <p></p> <p>The estimated cost to rebuild Old Main was over $15 million dollars and the state legislature would not approve the funds for the building. David Hines, the Physical Plant Director, told the Huntsville Item that, "A rebuilt one wouldn't have the same charisma that the original one had. It just wouldn't be the same" (1-B). Many of us who were never able to see Old Main will have to be content with the many lithographs and drawings of the stately gothic building. Austin Hall was remodeled and now is equipped with smoke detectors and a sprinkler system. In fact, after the fire at Old Main, the remainder of the buildings at Sam Houston State were equipped with fire alarms and sprinklers. The Old Main building at Texas State University was also remodeled and updated with fire alarms and a sprinkler system soon after the burning of Sam Houston State's Old Main. In 2002, the President of Sam Houston State, James Gaertner, claimed that there was a serious proposal on the table in regards to the rebuilding of Old Main. As of 2016, the rebuilding of Old Main remains wishful thinking.</p> <p>The Memorial to Old Main lays in the foundation of the former building. It is now called the "Pit" and is a beautiful, sunken garden. Students may wander about the gardens or sit and study on one of the many benches located there. Many classes and ceremonies are held in the "Pit" in addition to outdoor performances, parties, and other gatherings. There will never be another Old Main, but the memories of the, once grand, building still linger throughout Sam Houston. It was a monumental piece of architecture and the heart and soul of Sam Houston State University, and it will never be forgotten.</p> <ref id="AN0131343271-22"> <title> REFERENCES </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref3" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Baylor University. "About Baylor." Accessed March 20, 2016. <ulink href="http://www.baylor.edu/">http://www.baylor.edu/</ulink> about/index.php?id=88778</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Building SHSU. "Austin Hall 2003." Sam Houston State University. Accessed March 10, 2016. <ulink href="http://www.buildingshsu.com/a/austin-hall/">http://www.buildingshsu.com/a/austin-hall/</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Cashion, T. "Sam Houston State University: an institutional memory, 1879-2004." Huntsville, TX.: Sam Houston State University. (2004)</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Cordova, L. Austin Hall: 166 years of history endured. The Houstonian. April 27, 2015. Education World. "Sam Houston State University." Accessed March 18, 2016. <ulink href="http://eduworldtoday.com/2016/03/18/54/">http://eduworldtoday.com/2016/03/18/54/</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Humphries, J. W. "Old Austin College in Huntsville: An early chapter in east Texas educational history." East Texas Historical Journal, 16(1), 24–33. (1978)</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> Littlejohn, J. "Images of America: Huntsville." Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. (2009.)</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib7" type="bt">7</bibl> <bibtext> Ragsdale, J. D. "Compelling form: Architecture as visual persuasion." Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. (2011).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> Sam Houston State University (SHSU) Public Relations. Austin Hall. Accessed April 5, 2016. <ulink href="http://www.shsu.edu/map/building/austin-his.html">http://www.shsu.edu/map/building/austin-his.html</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> Texas Historical Commission. March 8, 2013. Recent listing—Austin Hall, Sam Houston State University. Accessed April 5, 2016. <ulink href="http://www.thc.state.tx.us/">http://www.thc.state.tx.us/</ulink> preserve/projects-and-programs/national-register-historic-places/recentlisting- austin-hall</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Trow, L. Questions about fire that razed Old Main persist. The Huntsville Item, March 20, 1983.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Wolfe, M. "National register of historic places: Registration form: Austin Hall, Huntsville,</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Walker County, Texas (NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018)." Washington, DC: National Park Service. (2012)</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Utley, D. K., and Beeman, C. J. "History Along the Way: Stories Beyond the Texas Roadside Markers." College Station: Texas A&M University Press. (2013)</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p></p> <p>Texas A&M University</p> <p>Texas A&M University</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib181" firstref="ref2"></nolink>
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  Data: The History of the Austin College Building and Old Main at Sam Houston State University
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  Data: Austin Hall and Old Main serve as the heart of what is now Sam Houston State University. The buildings' rich histories help one to understand how Sam Houston State University and its proud teacher education heritage came to be. To begin with Austin Hall's story, the University's original building has a unique and interesting tale that journeys through Texas' history. Eventually Old Main would join Austin Hall, becoming Texas' first building to be purposed for teacher training. The history of the Austin College Building and Old Main at Sam Houston State University is presented in this article.
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