DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this piece of ground in Williamson County. Now, before there was a Southwestern University, there were four colleges — and the Methodist church built every last one of them. Rutersville College in 1840.
Wesleyan College in 1844. McKenzie Institute in 1848. And Soule University in 1856.
Four schools, spread across Texas, each one standing on its own. But somebody, somewhere, had a bigger idea. That somebody had a name: the Reverend Doctor Francis Asbury Mood.
Born in 1830, and a man who, by 1868, had been named president of Soule University over in Washington County. He hadn't barely settled into the office before plans were already stirring — plans to pull all that Methodist education together into one centralized university. One institution to unite them all.
Meanwhile, down in Georgetown, the city fathers were cooking up plans of their own. They wanted a college. And two men — John J.
Dimmitt and G. W. Glasscock, Jr. — donated this very site for that purpose.
What opened here in 1870, though, was a community school rather than a college. Not quite what they'd envisioned. But Georgetown wasn't giving up.
Several cities were competing for the site of Dr. Mood's planned Methodist university, and in 1873, the decision came down — this property, right here, was chosen. Two years later, in 1875, Southwestern University received a union charter, bringing together all four of those earlier colleges under one name.
Dr. Mood served as president from the beginning, and he served until his death in 1884. Under his watch and beyond, this campus grew.
A young ladies school. A chapel. A gymnasium.
A boys dormitory they called Giddings Hall. The place had life. Southwestern University eventually moved to its present site in 1900 — but even then, it didn't entirely let go of this ground.
A preparatory department kept operating here all the way until 1916. Four colleges, one vision, and a stretch of donated Texas dirt that turned out to be exactly the right place at exactly the right time. That's not nothing.
What the marker says
The Methodist church established four colleges in Texas prior to the Civil War: Rutersville College (1840), Wesleyan College (1844), McKenzie Institute (1848), and Soule University (1856). The Rev. Dr. Francis Asbury Mood (1830-1884) was named president of Soule University in Washington County in 1868. Soon after he took office, plans were begun to relocate the school and develop a centralized Methodist university. About the same time, city leaders in Georgetown began plans to establish a college. This site was donated for that purpose by John J. Dimmitt and G. W. Glasscock, Jr., and a community school, instead of a college, opened in 1870. Georgetown was among the cities competing for the site of the planned Methodist university. In 1873 this property was chosen as the site of the new institution, which was granted a union charter (with the four earlier colleges) in 1875 as Southwestern University. Dr. Mood served as president until his death. Buildings added to the campus after 1873 included a young ladies school, a chapel, a boys dormitory (Giddings Hall), and a gymnasium. Southwestern University moved to its present site in 1900 but continued to operate a preparatory department here until 1916.