Washington Square
Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas
Marker Inscription
When Nacogdoches University was chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845, three early settlers --Haden Edwards, Charles S. Taylor, and J. R. Arnold -- donated 21.5 acres of land for the school. Known as Washington Square by 1848, the land was bounded by the present-day streets of Hughes, Mound, Edwards, and Fredonia. University trustees erected a two-story red brick Greek Revival building on the square in 1858. During the Civil War it served as a Confederate Hospital, and following the war was the site of the U.S. Army's East Texas headquarters. Later tenants of the structure included a Masonic Lodge and a Louisiana college. In 1889, in an effort to raise much-needed funds, University trustees sold the southern end of the square (between present Arnold and Edwards streets) for residential development. Christ Episcopal Church and the Old Stone Fort both stood on the square for a time. The trustees transferred the campus to the Nacogdoches Independent School District in 1904. Its educational purposes have included public schools, the first site of Stephen F. Austin State University, and the present Thomas J. Rusk Middle School. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
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.
Why it matters
One patch of ground charts a Texas town's journey from Republic-era education through Civil War and Reconstruction to the modern public school and university.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Haden Edwards
- · Charles S. Taylor
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.
Milam Lodge #2, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Texas
Nacogdoches, TX
Chartered in 1837, this is the oldest Masonic lodge in Texas still meeting in its original town, founded when the republic was barely a year old. Named for revolutionary hero Ben Milam, it counted among its early members signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence and statesmen like Thomas J. Rusk, and it joined two sister lodges to form the Grand Lodge of Texas. True to Masonic tradition, it helped found Nacogdoches University in 1845 and long championed education and charity.
First Baptist Church of Nacogdoches
Nacogdoches, TX
When the railroad reached Nacogdoches in 1883, the Baptist General Association sent missionary Luther Rice Scruggs to organize a church, and by 1885 he and thirteen charter members had done so. The congregation raised successive sanctuaries—one designed by noted local architect Diedrich Rulfs—as it grew with the town, and it planted several daughter churches over the decades. Members long shaped community life, from closing saloons to supporting a Baptist ministry at Stephen F. Austin University from 1923 onward.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Nacogdoches, TX
Presbyterians shaped Nacogdoches from the 1830s onward, and in 1893 Rev. B. A. Hodges and twelve members founded what became Westminster Presbyterian Church under the Cumberland denomination. An early wood-frame sanctuary by noted architect D. A. W. Rulfs gave way to a 1930 sanctuary and manse, and the congregation grew into a hub of community service, from a World War I savings-stamp drive to helping launch the local Head Start program.