DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm gonna give it to you the way it deserves to be told. Christmas Eve, 1895. A hundred people — faculty and students of Add-Ran Christian University — step off a train in Waco, Texas, and then march three miles.
Three miles, on Christmas Eve, to a site where an unfinished building is waiting for them. That's not a welcome party. That's a pilgrimage.
Add-Ran had been operating out of Thorp Spring since 1876, and now, by invitation, it was moving into the former home of Waco Female College — a school that had been functioning since 1857 before giving up its charter. One institution handing its walls to another. And just like that, on Christmas Eve of 1895, Add-Ran Christian University began to operate in those unfinished rooms.
Seven years later, in 1902, Add-Ran became Texas Christian University. The Horned Frog began publication. School spirit was running high.
You can almost picture it — a young university finding its footing, finding its voice, finding its frog. And then comes March 22, 1910. Fire destroyed the school.
Not damaged. Destroyed. Whatever those unfinished walls had become in fifteen years of life and learning — gone.
And after that, financial inducements caused T.C.U. to rebuild in Fort Worth. That's what the marker says. Financial inducements.
Some stories end with a homecoming. This one ended with a fire, and a new direction entirely.
What the marker says
A hundred people--faculty and students of Add-Ran Christian University (situated 1876-1895 at Thorp Spring)--reached Waco by train and marched 3 miles to this site on Christmas Eve 1895. By invitation, Add-Ran began to operate that day in unfinished building of Waco Female College, which had given up its charter after functioning since 1857. Add-Ran in 1902 became Texas Christian University. The "Horned Frog" began publication. School spirit was high, but on March 22, 1910, fire destroyed the school. Financial inducements caused T.C.U. to rebuild in Fort Worth.