Baylor University
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
World's largest Baptist University. Founded under charter issued by congress of Republic of Texas on Feb. 1, 1845, and in continuous operation ever since. Named for Judge R.E.B. Baylor (1791-1873), a native of Kentucky, an 1820s United States Congressman from Alabama, one of the first district judges in Texas. Judge Baylor, with the Rev. William Tryon and the Rev. James Huckins, obtained the charter under the terms of a resolution of the Union Baptist Association to establish "A Baptist University...to meet the needs of all the ages to come." First location was at Independence, in Washington County. Early presidents were Henry L. Graves (1847-52), Refus C. Burleson (1852-61), George W. Baines (1861-63), and William Carey Crane (1863-85). Texas supreme court justices Abner S. Limpscomb, Royal T. Wheeler, and Judge Baylor taught the first law classes. An early benefactor was General Sam Houston, who sent his children to the university and who initiated construction of the first woman's building. In 1886 the university moved to Waco, where new schools have been added and the plant enlarged in later years. The Armstrong Browning Library, Texana collections, and other features are world renowned.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Baylor was chartered on February 1, 1845, by the Congress of the Republic of Texas, named for Judge R.E.B. Baylor, who with the Rev. William Tryon and the Rev. James Huckins secured it under a Baptist resolution to build a university for the ages. It opened at Independence in Washington County, where early presidents guided it through the Civil War years, and General Sam Houston counted among its benefactors, sending his children there and helping build its first women's building. In 1886 the university moved to Waco, where it grew into the institution known today for treasures like the Armstrong Browning Library.
Why it matters
Founded before Texas even joined the Union, Baylor stands as the enduring flagship of Baptist higher education in the state and a rare living link to the Republic of Texas.
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Related people
- · R.E.B. Baylor
- · Sam Houston
- · William Tryon
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
George W. Carroll Science Hall
Waco, TX
Baylor University's Carroll Science Hall was named for businessman and philanthropist George Washington Carroll, whose gifts of $60,000 and $15,000 funded its construction. Completed in 1903 to a Beaux Arts design by architect S. Wemyss Smith, its three floors and basement housed laboratories and classrooms for chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and astronomy, along with an early home of Baylor's museum. After new science buildings rose in the 1960s, renovations converted it to classrooms, and it now houses the Department of English while keeping its original name.
R. E. B. Baylor
Waco, TX
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor packed several lifetimes into one: Kentucky legislator, congressman from two states, U.S. senator, soldier in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, and finally a jurist and Baptist preacher in the young Republic of Texas. In 1845 he helped found the university that bears his name, giving its first thousand dollars and leading its board, and he championed both Christian education and a free public school system. He preached the first sermon and held the first court in Waco.
Burleson Quadrangle
Waco, TX
Named for Rufus C. Burleson, the first president of Baylor's Waco campus, Burleson Quadrangle took its enduring shape as the university's four original buildings rose between 1886 and 1903. For generations it has been the setting of Baylor traditions, from the spring "Ring Out" ivy-chain ceremony to the passing of the key to a 1945 centennial time capsule. Its bronze statue of Burleson, unveiled in 1905, is the work of the noted sculptor Pompeo Coppini.
Old Main
Waco, TX
Completed in 1887, Old Main was the first building raised on Baylor's Waco campus after the university moved from Independence, and for years its 17 classrooms and 24 offices served as the whole institution at once. It held the 3,000-volume library, campus religious groups, and even a radio studio and tower. Damaged in the 1953 tornado and threatened with demolition in the 1960s, the Italianate and Gothic landmark was fully restored and rededicated in 1976.