Austin College Building

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1849, the Presbyterian Church set down roots in Huntsville and established Austin College. Two years later, they put up a building, and not just any building.

This was a Greek Revival structure with a three-bay front facade, a two-story portico, and Doric columns standing at attention out front. The kind of building that makes you slow down when you drive past it. Now, Austin College called Huntsville home for a good while, but in 1876 the college packed up and moved to Sherman.

That left the building standing there, patient as stone, waiting to find out what came next. It didn't wait long. In 1879, the building was deeded to the state for use by a newly established institution called Sam Houston Normal Institute, known today as Sam Houston State University.

So the building found its second life. Then, in 1882, somebody decided it needed a third floor. Up it went.

And then, in 1926 and 1927, that same third floor was removed. The building gave back what it had gained, and settled into the form you can still see today. Two stories, those Doric columns, that portico.

A structure raised by a church, adopted by a university, and still standing in Walker County after all these years. Some buildings just refuse to be finished.

What the marker says

The Presbyterian Church established Austin College in Huntsville in 1849 and erected this structure in 1851-52. Austin College moved to Sherman in 1876, and in 1879 this building was deeded to the state for use by the newly-established Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University). The Greek revival-era building features a three-bay front facade, two-story portico, and Doric columns. A third floor, added in 1882, was removed in 1926-27.