Waco University
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1861, Dr. Rufus C. Burleson (1823-1901) resigned as President of Baylor University (then located at Independence) to become head of the Waco Classical School, which had been founded in 1856 as the Trinity River Male High School by The Rev. Solomon G. O'Bryan. For 25 years Burleson worked tirelessly to make Waco University, as it was renamed in 1861, the pre-eminent Baptist college in the state, and by the early 1880s enrollment had reached over 400 students. In 1886, the Waco and Independence institutions were unified as Baylor University at Waco.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1861 Dr. Rufus C. Burleson (1823–1901) left the presidency of Baylor University at Independence to lead the Waco Classical School, founded in 1856 by the Rev. Solomon G. O'Bryan as the Trinity River Male High School. Renamed Waco University that same year, it grew under Burleson's tireless 25-year leadership into a leading Baptist college, topping 400 students by the early 1880s. In 1886 the Waco and Independence institutions merged to form Baylor University at Waco.
Why it matters
The school's story is the origin of modern Baylor University, tracing how Texas Baptists built higher education in the state's frontier and post-Civil War years.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Rufus C. Burleson
- · Solomon G. O'Bryan
Related events
- · Founding of Baylor University at Waco
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Baptist Church of Waco
Waco, TX
Organized in 1851 by the Rev. Noah Byars and a small band of charter members, this congregation first borrowed the Methodist meetinghouse before building its own sanctuary in 1857. Fire, growth, and time brought successive buildings, culminating in the present house of worship raised in 1907. The church became deeply entwined with Baylor University after the school moved to Waco in 1886, with every Baylor president since keeping membership here, and it counted among its leaders B.H. Carroll, founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Brann-Davis Shootings
Waco, TX
In 1890s Waco, the acid-tongued writer William Cowper Brann skewered institutions — Baptists and Baylor University above all — in his wildly popular magazine, The Iconoclast, splitting the city into armed factions. The feud produced a fatal 1897 duel and, in 1898, a shootout on this spot: Baylor partisan Tom E. Davis shot Brann, who returned fire, and both men died of their wounds. It was one of the deadliest episodes of American frontier journalism.
Gerald-Harris Shooting
Waco, TX
In November 1897 a feud over the printed word turned deadly near this Waco intersection. Newspaper editor James W. Harris and Judge George Bruce Gerald clashed over Gerald's defense of William Cowper Brann's fiery magazine The Iconoclast, which attacked Baptists and Baylor University. After a fistfight and a handbill branding Harris a coward, a challenge led to a street pistol battle that killed the Harris brothers and wounded the judge, who was reelected three years later.
George W. Truett
Waco, TX
George W. Truett followed his family from North Carolina to Texas in 1889 and, though ordained a Baptist minister in 1890, first made his mark as a gifted fundraiser — clearing Baylor University's crushing $92,000 debt in under two years as its financial secretary. He enrolled at Baylor, paid his way as a Waco pastor, and in 1897 took the pulpit of First Baptist Church, Dallas, which he led for 47 years as it grew more than tenfold. His fundraising also helped found the hospital that became Baylor Hospital.