HomeMy WebLinkAboutApplication 091903APPI.I N FOR ~LI.EGE N MARKER
Check one:
Building
~ers Name
Address ~,
,!
Phone ~q~ ~ t M i
Address of Historic Structure:
~~- . ..
Former campus house no
Describe historical, architectural, or other significance:
Please attach photograph and return to:
Recreation
Attn:
signature
Date
315 Suffol[ Avenue
Golleg¢ Station, Te~:as 77840
From lA
Houses
~an effort 'io recover the history of
~' the houses..
~.'~. The fonfi~r A&M political sci-
3:'ence professor has a personal in-
k,crest in the
? lives in
1890,
~ '~oved
~to fill the role.
When the ,,
~land
an
four miles away.
didn't exist.
po ira,,
ogy is quite apt.
And, like a military post, A&M
provided housing fo} its em-
'ployees, the faculty and staff. The
~.'f'n'st houses were built in 1876.
The former home of A&M past president Francis
stands at 1700 Laura Lane in College Station.
houses ever 'built. All those that
1920s, were frame.
They ranged from large Queen
Anne-type construction to bunga-
lows. Initially, the president him-
self assigned quarters. In 1913, a
committee was appointed to appor-
tion out the hotly contested fights to
cm-npus houses. The commmee
lasted until 1939, when the A&M
board of directors decided to re-
move the university from the hous-
ing business.
For the university, the decision
made sense. Parceling out more'
than 100 houses was a headache
and it was one that the university
was no longer forced to endure.
Development had spurted around
the college, and utilities were avail-
able for homesites off campus.
The first sales, of 35 houses, be~
gan in 1941 and continued till about
1950. Intermittent sales continued
thereafter for 22 years, until
another one-third of the total num-
ber of houses was sold. The la.st
sale of a campus house was m
1972.
'l~e remaining houses were de-
molished, moved to farm prop-
erties, accidentally burned, or
given to the Firemen's Training
School for practice.
Association have identified 41 for-
mer campus hou~e 38 of ti~em in
College Stafi0h; t~6 in'Bryan, and
one about two miles north of'
Bryan.
the records did not include the
names of the purchasers, nor .the
sites to which the houses were
moved. Van Riper thus was re-
duced to identifying the houses by
comparing possifle candidates
with pictures from the A&M arc-
hives, and by interviews--with long-
time local r~sidents.
In one case, the identification
Dr. Charles
wife had a
her
A&M,
In 1941· t the
Van Riper
Owens iS the only bom in a
campus house who continues to
occupy it.
M~it of the houses, including
~ the
:in
larger
1700
are near
eye.
Van
houses
galow.
· Amer-
historical marker to be erectead on'
campus notirig the current locations
of the houses. The application has
been tentatively approved.
Before the marker is errected.
though, he would like to determine
the disposition of those other 25
houses so they canbe included. His
telephone number is 696-9514.