Old Nacogdoches University Building
Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Republic of Texas chartered Nacogdoches University in 1845 to fulfill East Texas settlers’ ideals for higher education. The University occupied various downtown buildings before this building was completed in time for classes in fall 1859. Local citizens underwrote the project with donations of money, materials, land, labor and foodstuffs. During the Civil War the structure served as a Confederate hospital and functioned as a headquarters for a Federal regiment during Reconstruction. The building served the University until deeded to the Nacogdoches Independent School District in 1904. It continued as an educational facility until the 1960s when its care and use became the charge of the Nacogdoches Historical Society and later the Federation of Women’s Clubs. After restoration, the structure became available for community functions and now houses a small museum dedicated to education in Nacogdoches. The temple style of the building is a fine example of Greek Revival Classicism of the early and mid-19th century. The original contractor was John H. Cato, with the work completed by J. H. Muckleroy at a cost of $10,500. The two-story loadbearing masonry building features common bond red brick made on-site with local clay. The rectangular floor plan features narrow four-over-four windows on both floors, with 3 bays at the entrance and 6 bays along each side divided by brick pilasters. The prominent portico is composed of massive Doric style columns on plinth blocks, a broad entablature, and a deeply recessed pediment. The main entrance has solid paneled doors with a tall transom and sidelights. The gabled roof is topped by an octagonal frame copula with a bell roof capped by a carved finial. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 1962
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845, Nacogdoches University reflected East Texas settlers' hunger for higher learning, and townspeople paid for this Greek Revival building with donations of money, materials, and labor. Completed in 1859, it served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War and a Federal headquarters during Reconstruction before passing to the local schools in 1904. Restored in the twentieth century, it now houses a museum of Nacogdoches education.
Why it matters
The building is a rare survivor of frontier Texas's earliest ambitions for education, and its walls witnessed the community's passage through war and reunion.
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Related people
- · John H. Cato
- · J. H. Muckleroy
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Old Nacogdoches University
Nacogdoches, TX
Chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845 and financed by public subscription, Nacogdoches University embodied frontier settlers' hopes for higher learning. First housed in military quarters, it gained a modified Grecian building in 1858 that troops occupied during the Civil War. Schools used the structure until the 1930s, and Nacogdoches friends restored it in the 1960s.
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When the Republic of Texas chartered Nacogdoches University in 1845, three settlers donated 21.5 acres that came to be called Washington Square. A two-story Greek Revival building rose here in 1858, and during the Civil War it served as a Confederate hospital, then afterward as the U.S. Army's East Texas headquarters. Over the decades the square hosted churches, a Masonic lodge, and a succession of schools, including the first site of what is now Stephen F. Austin State University.
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Incorporated by an independent board in February 1845 and opened that September, Nacogdoches University was a pioneering co-educational school granted four leagues of land for its support. Its first president was Marcus A. Montrose, an outstanding early Texas educator. In time the institution was absorbed into the public school system.
Washington Square
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Washington Square had anchored Nacogdoches learning since the old Nacogdoches University of the 1840s, so when Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College opened in 1923 with its own campus unfinished, President Alton W. Birdwell turned to the town for help. His friend and former University of Texas roommate, school superintendent R. F. Davis, lent the college the square's high school and other buildings, where East Texas students began their studies alongside high schoolers. The gesture forged a lasting bond between town and college before the new campus was completed in 1924.