DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you're standin' somewhere in Washington County, Texas, you're standin' on ground with a story worth knowin'. This is the site where one of the early buildings of Baylor University once stood.
A building erected for boys in 1851, and torn down in 1934. Eighty-some years of weather and history, and then gone. But the institution itself, that's a different story altogether.
That one didn't go anywhere. Before we get to the building comin' down, let's start at the very beginning. Baylor University was incorporated February 1, 1845, under the laws of the Republic of Texas.
Not the state of Texas, mind you. The Republic. That's how far back this thing goes.
The institution was named for Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, who along with Reverend William M. Tryon secured the charter that made it all possible. Then on January 12, 1846, a man named Henry L.
Graves was elected the first president. The wheels were turning. The boys came.
A building went up on this very patch of Washington County ground in 1851. Years passed, as years do. Then in 1886, Baylor consolidated with Waco University and moved to Waco, where it stands to this day, the oldest existing educational institution in Texas, still going, still in, as the marker puts it, unselfish service.
Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana. For the church and for Texas. That building they put up here in 1851 may be long gone, but the thing it stood for, well, you're lookin' at the ground it started on.
What the marker says
On this site stood one of the early buildings of Baylor University erected for boys in 1851, and torn down in 1934; The institution was incorporated February 1, 1845 under the laws of the Republic of Texas; named for Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor who with Reverend William M. Tryon secured the charter; Henry L. Graves was elected first president January 12, 1846; consolidated with Waco University in 1886 and moved to Waco; Baylor University; The oldest existing educational institution in Texas; continues in unselfish service; Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana