Texas Christian University
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A hundred people--faculty and students of Add-Ran Christian University (situated 1876-1895 at Thorp Spring)--reached Waco by train and marched 3 miles to this site on Christmas Eve 1895. By invitation, Add-Ran began to operate that day in unfinished building of Waco Female College, which had given up its charter after functioning since 1857. Add-Ran in 1902 became Texas Christian University. The "Horned Frog" began publication. School spirit was high, but on March 22, 1910, fire destroyed the school. Financial inducements caused T.C.U. to rebuild in Fort Worth.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On Christmas Eve 1895, a hundred faculty and students of Add-Ran Christian University arrived in Waco by train and marched three miles to occupy the buildings of the defunct Waco Female College. The school took root, adopting the name Texas Christian University in 1902 and its famous "Horned Frog" spirit. A devastating fire in 1910 ended its Waco chapter, and financial offers drew T.C.U. to rebuild in Fort Worth.
Why it matters
It marks a formative, wandering era of a major Texas university, and the way fire and fortune could uproot an institution from one city to another.
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Themes & tags
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