Gates Hall
Plainview, Hale County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Original administration building of Wayland Baptist College. Site (in town founded in 1887) given by J.H. Wayland, a physician settling here 1891. Built 1909-1910, in term of first president, Dr. I.E. Gates, for whom it is named. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Gates Hall was the original administration building of Wayland Baptist College, raised in 1909–1910 in the young town of Plainview. The land came from Dr. J.H. Wayland, a physician who settled here in 1891 and lent the college his name. The hall itself honors the school's first president, Dr. I.E. Gates, in whose term it was built.
Why it matters
The building marks the founding of higher education on the Texas High Plains, an investment in learning that helped a frontier town stake its claim to permanence.
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Related people
- · J.H. Wayland
- · I.E. Gates
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Dr. James Henry Wayland
Plainview, TX
Dr. James H. Wayland came to the raw new town of Plainview in 1891 and became one of the most active physicians for a hundred miles, navigating the trackless plains by compass and even homing pigeons to reach distant patients. A tireless civic builder, he planted trees as landmarks, opened businesses, and with his wife Sarah gave land and money to found Wayland College in 1910. He lost his health serving through the deadly 1918 influenza epidemic and was honored many times before his death at 85.
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Emma Grigsby Meharg
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