Galveston Medical College
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First medical college in Texas and predecessor of the University of Texas Medical Branch, the school opened in 1865 as a branch of Soule University at Chappell Hill. Although equipment during the first session consisted of one skeleton, one obstetrical dummy, and three anatomy charts, the teaching level was high -- equal to that in most medical schools in the United States at the time. The college moved three times in eight years, but enrollment increased to 46 by 1873 and students were authorized to attend patients in the Island City Hospital. In obedience to law, all corpses were buried, but the bodies of some indigents were later disinterred by students for dissecting purposes. In 1873, the school was reorganized as the "Texas Medical College and Hospital" under the guidance of Dr. Ashbel Smith, brilliant, fiery-tempered surgeon who was also famed as a Texas statesman. In 1891, the medical branch of the University of Texas was established here with Sealy Hospital as the college teaching hospital. The red Brick building at this site originally housed the entire school. Today the medical branch has an annual enrollment of 900 and is one of Texas' leading medical colleges.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Opened in 1865 as a branch of Soule University, this was the first medical college in Texas, beginning with almost nothing—one skeleton, an obstetrical dummy, and three anatomy charts—yet holding to a high standard of teaching. Reorganized in 1873 under the fiery surgeon-statesman Dr. Ashbel Smith and absorbed into the University of Texas in 1891, it grew into today's University of Texas Medical Branch.
Why it matters
It marks the frontier beginnings of professional medical education in Texas, a lineage that made Galveston a lasting center of medicine and public health.
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Related people
- · Ashbel Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Old Red, Ashbel Smith Building
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When the University of Texas Medical Branch opened in Galveston in 1891, this massive Romanesque building was its entire campus — one structure, a young faculty, and an enrollment of just 23 students. Designed by celebrated Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton and dedicated on October 5, 1891, it was later named for Ashbel Smith, the pioneer surgeon and diplomat remembered as the 'Father of the University of Texas.' Its nickname, 'Old Red,' comes from the deep color of its brick and stone.
World War I Physicians from Galveston
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