East Texas State University
Commerce, Hunt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1889 as the Mayo School, in Cooper (16 mi. NE). Reopened with about 35 students in a brick store on the public square here in Commerce in 1894, still under private ownership of William Leonidas Mayo (1861-1917), a gifted teacher from Kentucky. School was underwritten by public-spirited local citizens. Its most illustrious student, Sam Rayburn (1882-1961), gained international fame as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The Mayo School passed into state ownership in 1917 as East Texas State Normal College, Randolph B. Binnion, president. After name was changed (1923) to East Texas State Teachers College, presidents were Sam H. Whitley (1924-1946), Arthur C. Ferguson (1946-1947) and James G. Gee (1947-1966). The word "teachers" was dropped from the title in 1957; in 1965, it became East Texas State University. In 1966, D. Whitney Halladay succeeded to the presidency. East Texas State University has more than 26,000 graduates. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees in arts and science; also the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Its 1200-acre campus has 150 buildings. It is one of 23 state-supported colleges and universities in Texas enrolling over 150,000 students annually.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1889 as the Mayo School and reopened in a Commerce storefront in 1894, this institution grew from the private venture of Kentucky-born teacher William Leonidas Mayo. Passing into state hands in 1917, it evolved through names—Normal College, Teachers College—into East Texas State University by 1965. Its most famous student, Sam Rayburn, went on to become the long-serving Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Why it matters
The school's climb from a one-room private academy to a state university mirrors the democratization of higher education in rural America—and it educated one of the twentieth century's most powerful legislators.
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Related people
- · William Leonidas Mayo
- · Sam Rayburn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Centennial of Methodism in Commerce
Commerce, TX
Two early congregations, Lebanon and Mt. Zion, served the first settlers around Commerce before local Methodists began gathering in a schoolhouse on Pecan Street. In 1881, four years before the town was incorporated, they joined the Lebanon fellowship in a Union Church, then built their own sanctuary in 1890, followed by larger buildings in 1907 and 1968. For more than a century the church has been a force in the town's growth.
President's House
Commerce, TX
Designed by Greenville architects George Lindsey and Roy Kilmer in 1927, the President's House was built on land bought from Daniel and Annie Bachman to serve as the home of the college's president. Its dark red brick, white trim, and restrained classical details give it an understated Georgian Revival character. After a new president's house was built in 1968 the building became offices, and in 1995 it was renamed "Heritage House" and restored to its 1930s appearance as a heritage center.
Site of Commerce Churches
Commerce, TX
On this ground the Missionary Baptist Church built a sanctuary in 1893, beginning a long chain of congregations that passed through the property over the next seventy years. The Commerce Church of Christ acquired and enlarged the building in the early twentieth century, notable for the many East Texas State Teachers College faculty who served as its elders and preachers. Baptist and later Lutheran congregations owned the site into the 1960s.
First Presbyterian Church of Commerce
Commerce, TX
In November 1888 seventeen charter members joined the Rev. J. C. Grow to organize the First Presbyterian Church of Commerce, worshiping in the town's shared Union Church until they finished their own frame sanctuary in 1893. The Rev. Elijah B. Fincher became the first resident pastor in 1897, and a brick sanctuary rose at Monroe and Caddo streets in 1913. The congregation has been woven into the life of Commerce for more than a century.