DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker tells it, here's the story of this Administration Building — and it's got more lives than most. Back in 1890, a coeducational school called Polytechnic College got itself organized, with Bishop J. S.
Key steering the ship. Now, a school needs land before it needs anything else, and that land came from three men: A. S. and W.
D. Hall, and one George Tandy, who gave the site outright. That's the kind of generosity that starts something lasting.
Then, in 1902 — during the presidential term of Bishop Hiram A. Boaz — they put up this hall. Texas limestone, solid as the ground it stands on, and they built it to mean something.
And it did. When Polytechnic College eventually became Texas Woman's College in 1914, this building kept right on humming. Texas Woman's College ran its course through 1934, and when that chapter closed and the institution became Texas Wesleyan College, well — same building, still standing, still in use.
They modernized it in 1963, gave it a little polish without pulling its teeth. Through every name change, every new era, this hall of Texas limestone just kept showing up for work. It's owned by the Texas Methodist Conferences, and if these old walls could talk, they'd probably just say — I've been here before you arrived, and I'll be here when you go.
What the marker says
Erected by old Polytechnic College, a coeducational school organized 1890 by Bishop J. S. Key, on site given by A. S. and W. D. Hall and George Tandy. This hall, of Texas limestone, was built 1902 in presidential term of Bishop Hiram A. Boaz. Has continued in use while institution was Texas Woman's College, 1914-1934, and since it became Texas Wesleyan College. Modernized in 1963. Owned by Texas Methodist Conferences.