Add-Ran Christian College
Thorp Springs, Hood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Here J.A. Clark and his two sons, Addison and Randolph began a private school chartered in 1873 under the name of Add-Ran Christian College. Removed to Waco on December 25, 1895. Reestablished at Fort Worth in 1909 as Texas Christian University.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1873, J. A. Clark and his sons Addison and Randolph opened a private school at Thorp Springs, chartering it as Add-Ran Christian College and blending their sons' names into its title. The college moved to Waco in 1895 and was reestablished at Fort Worth in 1909, where it grew into Texas Christian University. Its humble beginnings in a small Hood County community launched one of the state's major universities.
Why it matters
The marker traces the frontier origins of TCU, a reminder that many great American universities began as modest church-affiliated schools founded by ambitious families.
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Related people
- · J. A. Clark
- · Addison Clark
- · Randolph Clark
Related events
- · Founding of Texas Christian University
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pleasant Thorp
Thorp Spring, TX
Blacksmith Pleasant Thorp came to Texas in 1840 and, after passing through this country on the Morehouse Expedition, resolved to settle here, eventually amassing nearly 18,000 acres. Discovering sulphur springs, he set aside land for the town of Thorp Spring, and in 1871 he and Sam Milliken founded Thorp College. That early school gave way in 1873 to Add-Ran College, which moved to Waco and then Fort Worth and grew into Texas Christian University. In 1888 Thorp deeded the land around the spring to Hood County for a public park, leaving a legacy of education and community.
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Granbury Cemetery
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This congregation took shape in the 1870s with the help of Addison and Randolph Clark, whose father Joseph A. Clark founded the Add-Ran Male and Female College nearby at Thorp Spring in 1873. That school would grow into Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. The Clark brothers served as the church's first pastors, and the men of the fellowship raised a frame sanctuary in 1889.