Old Main
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Old Main, completed in 1887, was the first building constructed on the Baylor campus after the University’s move from Independence, Washington County. Because of Baylor’s limited resources, the building served as the primary location for both classes and offices for several years. The building also served as headquarters for a number of campus religious organizations, housed Baylor’s 3,000-volume library, and served as the location of the University’s radio studio and tower. All of these facilities were contained in a structure that held 17 classrooms and 24 offices and functioned as the heart of the University. Old Main was one of several campus structures damaged during the tornado that destroyed much of downtown Waco on May 11, 1953. Concerns for public safety stemming from the weakening of the spires on both Old Main and Burleson Hall led to the removal of the spires later that year. During the 1960s University officials faced the decision to demolish the historic structure or complete extensive restoration. The decision to save the building came at an opportune time, after a november 1969 fire caused minor damage to the building’s interior. Full restoration of the building and a rededication ceremony came in 1976. Architect William Larmour designed this prominent building, which exhibits elements of the Italianate and Gothic architectural styles. Limestone window hoods and string courses contrast with the red brick construction, and the pyramidal spires at the corners and the center of the main façade have made the building a landmark for generations. Today, Old Main remains as a constant link to Baylor tradition through years of change.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
Old Main is the enduring heart of Baylor University, a spired symbol of how a struggling frontier college grew into a lasting Texas institution.
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Related people
- · William Larmour
Related events
- · 1953 Waco tornado
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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.
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.
The Texas Collection
Waco, TX
Fearing his prized library might burn, Dr. Kenneth Hazen Aynesworth — a Waco surgeon and avid collector — donated about a thousand volumes on Texas to Baylor University in 1923, then thousands more. His gift grew into the Texas Collection, a research center that also hosted one of the first college-level Texas history courses. Over the decades it moved through several campus buildings before gaining a purpose-built home.
Carroll Library
Waco, TX
When Waco University merged with Baylor in 1886, the combined school's books were scattered across societies and rooms, making research a chore. Prompted by the student newspaper and led by President Oscar Cooper, Baylor created a librarian's post and, with funds donated by F.L. Carroll, opened this library in 1903 with some 18,000 volumes. Though fire gutted it in 1922, alumni rebuilt it, and it later became the home of the university's celebrated Texas Collection.