Campus of Texas A&M University

Establishment The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, later known as Texas A&M University was established by the Texas State Legislature on April 17, 1871 as the state's first public institution of higher education. The legislature provided $75,000 for the construction of buildings at the new school. A committee tasked with finding a home for the new college chose Brazos County, which agreed to donate 2,416 acres (10 km2) of land. The college officially opened on October 4, 1876, with six professors. Livestock roamed freely but cautiously, and the area served as a meeting point for the Great Western Cattle Trail. The first building to be placed on campus was known as Old Main. "A stately, semi-classic building four stories in height", Old Main housed all the activities of the college for the first ten years of the school's existence. In the following three decades, it played a prominent part in A&M activities and housed the offices of the school's presidents. The building caught fire in the early hours of May 27, 1912, and was unable to be saved. Sul Ross era Many people credit Texas A&M president Lawrence Sullivan Ross, known affectionately to students as "Sully", with saving the school from closure and transforming it into a respected military institution. Ross, the immediate past governor of Texas, had been a well-respected Confederate soldier along with being a Baylor graduate and he enjoyed a good reputation among state residents. Enrollment continued to rise, so much so that by the end of his tenure Ross requested that parents first communicate with his office before sending their sons to the school. The increase in students necessitated an improvement in facilities, and from fall 1891 until September 1898 the college spent over $97,000 on improvements and new buildings. This included construction of an infirmary, which included the first indoor toilets on campus, a new artesian well, a natatorium, four new faculty residences, an electric light plant, an ice works, a laundry, a cold storage room, a slaughterhouse, a gymnasium, a warehouse, and an artillery shed. The last major campus construction overseen by Ross was the development of the Mess Hall. Designed by architectural firm Glover and Allen and opened in 1897, the Mess Hall could originally seat 500 students. Its front porches were later enclosed to double the seating capacity, making the Mess Hall the largest dining hall in Texas. An accidental kitchen fire on the morning of November 11, 1911, destroyed the building. Its replacement, Sbisa Dining Hall, remains one of the primary dining centers on campus. During this time one of the more recognizable features of the Texas A&M landscape, the Century Oak Tree, was planted. The massive oak tree, located in Academic Plaza, would become a favored place for students to propose marriage. Early 20th century The focal point of campus for much of the early 20th century was Military Walk, a 1,500-foot (460 m) street that connected the former Guion Hall, now the location of the Rudder Theatre Complex, with Sbisa Dining Hall. Lined with oak trees, the avenue provided access to Assembly Hall (1889–1929), Foster Hall (1899–1951), Ross Hall (1891–1955), Gaithright Hall (1876–1933), and Mitchell Hall (1912–1972). The street was closed in 1971. Many of the original trees remain, but buildings, walk ways, and grassy areas were added in place of the street itself. The school began offering an expanded choice of degree programs at the same time that the state legislature and the United States Department of Agriculture established several services at Texas A&M. In the late 1920s, following the discovery of oil on university lands, Texas A&M and the University of Texas negotiated a settlement for the division of the Permanent University Fund which enabled A&M to receive one-third of the revenue. This guaranteed wealth enabled A&M to grow and expand. In 1951, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the base was reactivated for United States Air Force (USAF) pilot training. In the late 1950s, after combat in Korea had wound down, the USAF inactivated the base again. The USAF fully vacated the base in May 1961 and the land and buildings were leased to Texas A&M in 1962 under an arrangement that would allow the university to buy the property at a heavily discounted price in the future. The facility was named the Research Annex. Late 20th century The George Bush Presidential Library was established in 1997 on of land donated by Texas A&M at the western edge of the campus. This tenth presidential library was built between 1995 and 1997 and contains the presidential and vice-presidential papers of George H. W. Bush and the vice-presidential papers of Dan Quayle. In 1998, activists on campus (including Professor Patrick Slattery) suggested the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross should be removed on the basis that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Instead, Slattery and others wanted to create a "diversity plaza", with a statue of Matthew Gaines, an African-American politician. Major components of the plan include • New Main Drive • Administration Building/East Lawn Area • East Quad • East-West Pedestrian Walks • Library Quad and Diversity Plaza • Academic Quad and Military Walk • Simpson Drill Field and the New Underpasses • New West Quad and Wellborn Road • West Campus Extension of Old Main • White Creek Greenway Texas A&M's master plan has won several awards including: Campus Planning Award from the Boston Society of Architects and a 2004 design award from the Texas Society of Architects. Current status Following the completion of the master plan, Texas A&M has begun some of the largest construction projects in its history. In 2007, the Texas A&M University system had close to 700 million dollars of construction projects planned or already underway in the Bryan College Station area. To fund this expansion, the university is relying on state funding, donations, fees and tuition revenue bonds to cover costs. The first major building of this construction phase, the $95 million Interdisciplinary Life Sciences building, is the largest building on campus. In addition, Texas A&M is constructed two physics buildings dedicated to astronomical research with funds from a donation by George P. W. Mitchell. Outside of main campus, Texas A&M Health Science Center is constructing a new campus on in Bryan, Texas. On December 16, 2010, Texas A&M broke ground on a new Humanities and Arts building. This building is especially notable because of the institution's "historical focus on engineering and agriculture". The school finished renovations and reopened on the Memorial Student Center on April 21, 2012. In addition to academic facilities, athletics director Bill Byrne has overseen an aggressive expansion of the university's sports faculties since his hiring in 2003. Under his leadership, Texas A&M completed several athletics facilities including the McFerrin Athletic Center, an indoor football practice field and track and field facility. The center was host of the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships. The department has also completed the Cox-McFerrin Center, a practice facility for the men's and women's basketball teams. The school recently renovated the schools baseball stadium, Olsen Field, with a name change to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park following a $7 million donation from Blue Bell Creameries. The field was reopened on February 17, 2012. Future plans include the renovation of Kyle field. ==Areas==