Salado College was a
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
in
Salado, Texas
Salado ( ) is a town in Bell County, Texas, United States. Salado was first incorporated in 1867 for the sole purpose of building a bridge across Salado Creek. In 2000, the citizens of Salado voted in favor of reincorporation, before which it was ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
that operated from 1860 until 1885.
History
Salado College began on October 8, 1859 at a tent meeting at
Salado Springs
Salado Springs is the name of five groups of springs at the town of Salado in Bell County, Texas, in the United States. The springs are located 48 miles (77 km) north of Austin or 135 miles (217 km) south of Dallas.
The springs, wh ...
of prominent men from throughout
Bell County with a desire to create a high class school in the county. They organized the Salado College Joint Stock Company and raised $5,000 for the college through sale of stock. The board of the company had seven trustees. Colonel
Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson
Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson (1820–1879) was an early white settler in Robertson's Colony in Texas. His father was the colony's founder Sterling C. Robertson. Brought to Texas to learn the Spanish language, he translated for both Robertson' ...
was elected President of the board.
Robertson donated of land to the college on October 16, 1859. Ten acres of the land was for the college grounds and ninety acres was to subdivided and sold to families moving to the area. The proceeds of the land sale provided money for building the school. Salado College was the first college in the state to operate without church or state funds.
On February 8, 1860, Salado College was incorporated by the
Texas Legislature
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
for twenty years to grant
diploma
A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...
s, confer
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
s and perform other corporate functions. Unlike most colleges of the era in the United States, Salado College was to be
coeducational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
. The college erected a temporary wooden building, and the first classes began on February 20, 1860. Seventy-five students were enrolled the first term. Students that did not live in the area boarded with local families as the college had no
dormitory
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
. Teachers temporarily lived in tents.
On July 4, 1860, area
Masons laid the cornerstone for the college's permanent two-story
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
building. The ceremony attracted visitors from as far away as
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
and
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
. The college sold many more lots as families moved to Salado to get their children a good education. Attendance increased to 124 students the next year. Attendance at the school peaked at 307 students in 1865 with an average of 250 from 1866 to 1872.
In 1871, the college added a two-story annex. However, enrollment dropped sharply because of the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...
. The number of students also decreased as more state-funded colleges were established. Finally, Colonel Robertson had to step in and buy the college in 1877 to keep it from being closed due to
foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortg ...
on the property. Colonel Robertson died in 1879.
The state charter expired on February 8, 1880. A new corporation formed in 1882 and purchased the land on which the college building stood from Robertson's heirs. The school operated as Salado College until 1885. However, the college was not rechartered with the state, so it granted no degrees between 1880 and 1884. In 1885, Salado College ceased operating as a college. The college had operated for its entire existence without
endowment
Endowment most often refers to:
*A term for human penis size
It may also refer to: Finance
*Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment)
*Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...
s, sustained solely by
tuition
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...
.
The Salado College Board of Trustees leased the site to Dr. S. J. Jones who established a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
. He operated it as Thomas Arnold High School from 1890 until 1913 when he retired. The school closed in 1918 and became a free
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
until 1924.
A fire destroyed the main building in 1901 and again in 1902. The building was rebuilt each time. A fire in 1924 destroyed the building again. This time the citizens could not afford to rebuild.
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
recounts the nature of these fires as "suspicious," but the basis for the claim of
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
is lost in local
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
.
The site was subjected to an
archaeological survey
In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human c ...
. The ruins of the building were stabilized, and the site is now open to the public.
Notable alumni
*
James Edward Ferguson
James Edward Ferguson Jr. (August 31, 1871 – September 21, 1944), known as Pa Ferguson, was an American Democratic politician and the 26th Governor of Texas, in office from 1915 to 1917. He was indicted and impeached during his second ter ...
, 26th Governor of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, expelled from Salado for disobedience
"Ferguson, James Edward," ''The Handbook of Texas Online''
Retrieved Nov. 22, 2008.
*Miriam Amanda Ferguson
Miriam Amanda Wallace "Ma" Ferguson (June 13, 1875 – June 25, 1961) was an American politician who served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Texas: from 1925 to 1927, and from 1933 to 1935. She was the first female governor of Texas, ...
, 29th and 32nd Governor of Texas
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas
Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas
Buildings and structures in Bell County, Texas
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas
1860 establishments in Texas
Ruins in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Bell County, Texas