DUANE
Duane's take
The way I tell it, I'm going by what the official marker says — so let's see what the stone remembers. Now, the Texas coast has a way of building things up and tearing them back down, and the story of Bay View College is about as good an example of that as you're ever going to find. Pull up a chair, because this one's got family legacy, a stranded hotel, ranch kids riding in from seventy counties, and a hurricane waiting at the end of the road.
It starts with a family name you might recognize. Thomas M. Clark and his wife Alice Yantis Clark — he born in 1856, she in 1857 — came from the same family that founded Texas Christian University.
So these were not people who took education lightly. They had it in the blood. And they had their eyes on the South Texas coast, where ranch children were scattered across the brush country with precious few schooling options worth the name.
Now, here's where the story gets a little wry. Somebody had built a two-story Hotel Portland out on the coast, opened it up in 1891, full of ambition — and then a national business recession came along and left the place sitting quiet and idle. The Clarks looked at that empty hotel and saw something entirely different than a failed enterprise.
They saw a school. With Mrs. Mollie Allen Turner on board as associate, Thomas and Alice Clark opened Bay View College in September of 1894.
What they were offering ran the full range — primary subjects clear through junior college. Mrs. Clark, who also managed a boarding house called The Home, taught painting.
Mr. Clark handled music and literary subjects. Between the two of them, they were covering a lot of ground.
And life at Bay View College was not all chalk and recitation, I'll tell you that. Students rode horses — their own horses, the marker takes care to mention — and attended house parties out at patron George Fulton's Rincon Ranch, twelve miles northeast. Every year, they took an annual San Jacinto Day sail on Corpus Christi Bay.
These were ranch kids. They knew how to live. The college grew.
A two-story boys' dormitory went up. Then a gymnasium. Then a two-story chapel.
And the students kept coming — from seventy Texas counties, from twelve other states, and from Mexico. The first Bachelor of Letters degrees went to a class of three: Wallace Clark, Lucille Long, and Ed Rachal. Three names, one milestone.
Some Bay View graduates went on to senior colleges and entered the professions. Many stayed in ranching, which — on the South Texas coast, in that era — was not a small thing at all. But then.
Nineteen sixteen. A hurricane came through and destroyed most of the buildings. The Clarks managed one more day school session the following winter, held in the chapel — one of the few things still standing.
But Bay View College formally closed in 1917. That's the Texas coast for you. It giveth a stranded hotel, and it taketh a college.
What's left is the marker, and the memory of three graduates clutching their Bachelor of Letters degrees, and somewhere out there a class of ranch kids who once sailed Corpus Christi Bay on San Jacinto Day like they owned the whole horizon.
What the marker says
An important school of the coastal region, founded for scattered South Texas ranch children, by Thomas M. (1856-1943) and Alice Yantis Clark (1857-1913), of the family that founded Texas Christian University. The Clarks utilized 2-story "Hotel Portland", opened 1891 but soon idled by national business recession. With Mrs. Mollie Allen Turner as associate, they opened Bay View College in Sept. 1894, teaching primary through junior college subjects. Mrs. Clark, who also managed "The Home" for boarders, taught painting; Clark, music and literary subjects. Recreation included riding (on student-owned horses), house parties at patron George Fulton's Rincon Ranch (12 miles northeast), and an annual San Jacinto Day sail on Corpus Christi Bay. The first Bachelor of Letters degrees were awarded to a class of three: Wallace Clark, Lucille Long, Ed Rachal. In time, a 2-story boys' dormitory, a gymnasium, and a 2-story chapel stood on campus. Students came from 70 Texas counties, 12 other states, and Mexico. Some Bay View graduates went on to senior colleges and entered professions, many remained in ranching. In 1916 , a hurricane destroyed most of the buildings. A day school session was held the next winter in the chapel, but the college formally closed in 1917. (1973)