First Hundred Years of Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded during 19th century Christian Restoration Movement, by Joseph Addison Clark (1815-1901) and sons Addison (1842-1911) and Randolph (1844-1935). Joseph A. Clark, born in Illinois, came to Republic of Texas in 1839. A teacher, preacher, lawyer, surveyor, editor and publisher, he also was Fort Worth Postmaster in noisy cattle-trail and early railroad era. His sons, home from the Civil War, established a school in this city in 1869, on site which proved unsuitable. The family moved the school to Thorp Springs (33 MI. SW), where they founded Add-Ran Male and Female College in 1873. Church-related from its origin, the college was given in 1889 to the Christian Church Convention of Texas, and renamed Addran Christian University. Moved to Waco on Christmas Day, 1895, the school was renamed Texas Christian University (1902), and stayed there until the main building was destroyed by fire in 1910. When Fort Worth offered 52 acres of land for a campus and funds of $200,000 for building, Texas Christian University returned (1910) to the city first chosen as its location. By 1973, TCU had grown to 243 acres, 60 buildings, seven schools and colleges, and an average fall enrollment of 6500 students. Erected during Centennial Observance - 1973.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Texas Christian University grew from the 19th-century Christian Restoration Movement and the teaching family of Joseph Addison Clark and his sons Addison and Randolph. Home from the Civil War, the sons opened a school in Fort Worth in 1869 and founded Add-Ran Male and Female College at Thorp Springs in 1873. After moves to Waco and a devastating 1910 fire, the school returned to Fort Worth, which offered land and funds, and grew into a major university.
Why it matters
TCU's wandering early decades trace how private, church-rooted colleges took hold and endured across post–Civil War Texas.
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Related people
- · Joseph Addison Clark
- · Addison Clark
- · Randolph Clark
Themes & tags
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