Austin Hall: 166 Years of History Endured

Another in this semester's review of the buildings on campus (Apr. 27); this time, the Houstonian's Leslie Cordova celebrates Austin Hall:

Austin Hall Renovations Receive Commendation

Today@Sam reports Austin Hall was honored by the Victorian Society in America with a commendation for the building’s recent exterior restoration.  The award was presented at society's annual meeting in Florida on April 27, 2013.

Austin Hall Named To National Register Of Historic Places

Today@Sam writes that's the university's oldest building is on tap to receive another honor:

Austin Hall, the oldest building, and most notable landmark, on the campus of Sam Houston State University, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a federal program to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

“The application process required extensive research and documentation about the architectural distinction and historical significance of the building,” said Mac Woodward, director of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum.  The application was first submitted to the Texas Historical Commission for review.  The university received official word that the building had been approved for the listing on Jan. 30.

Read the full file on the Austin Hall from nps.gov.

Ceremony to Honor Austin Hall

A refurbished Austin Hall will be presented to the campus and community in a special ceremony on Saturday, October 20. The Houstonian reports the re-dedication will feature words from several academic and city officials including President Dana Gibson; Mayor of Huntsville Mac Woodward, Brian McCall, Ph.D., chancellor of the Texas State University System; and Light Cummins, Ph.D., professor of history at Austin College in Sherman, TX.

The $2 million project was needed to repair years of deterioration and interior problems to preserve the 160-year-old structure. Built in 1851, Austin Hall opened for classes at Austin College in 1852. It has lived through the Civil War, Reconstruction, several hurricanes, and even a devastating fire in 1982 that destroyed Old Main. Today it is used for campus special events and receptions.

The event will begin at 3:30 with speakers beginning at 4 p.m. The ceremony is free and is open to all.

Video: Restoring Austin Hall

Work continues on the $2 million restoration of the inside and out of the Austin College Building. As SHSU's oldest academic building, the 160-year-old structure has weathered quite a bit, especially since the fire thirty years ago that destroyed Old Main. KBTX-TV highlights what's being done in their recent story from Huntsville.  Completion is scheduled for May.

Austin Hall Undergoes Restoration

Today@Sam reports that SHSU’s oldest academic building is being restored – brick by brick:

Austin Hall, the oldest building on the campus of Sam Houston State University, is in the middle of a restoration that includes extensive repairs and a bit of “dressing up,” according to university officials.

The three foundations that have committed to assisting in the funding for the Austin Hall restoration project include Houston Endowment, Inc., The Brown Foundation, Inc., and The Elkins Foundation. Shutter damage and cracks between bricks will be among the things the $2 million restoration project will work to ameliorate. The project is being paid for through donations by three foundations. Estimated to cost $2 million, the project has benefitted from donations from alumni and businesses as well.

SHSU’s Facilities Planning and Construction Office is leading the project which includes everything from floor refinishing to cupola restoration, as well as the installation of new electrical and plumbing systems.

The bricks with names of generations of Sam Houston State students carved into them will not be replaced with new bricks. They will, however, be taken down so that new mortar can be applied. They will then be “re-placed” in their previous location on the exterior of the building, except for those bricks that have deteriorated beyond use, such as some of the ones below the windows.

The restoration project is scheduled to be completed in May 2012.

No word on what they win if they find the cornerstone.

August 2011 Regents Report

Today@Sam has a run-down of the capital improvement projects discussed by the Texas State University System Board of Regents, the governing body of SHSU; these include:

Approvals:

• Design development documents presented by Ford, Power and Carson, Architects and Planners, Inc., of San Antonio, for the restoration of Austin Hall, with a budget of $2.2 million. The project will totally funded by the Higher Education Assistance Fund, a capital funding source provided by the state constitution.
• Purchase of 2.75 acres located at 2208 Avenue I. Said, President Dana Gibson, “This property will be used for future campus expansion and parking according to the master plan. The property’s location is between the edge of the west campus and Sam South where University Police and Facilities Maintenance offices are located, as well as being adjacent to Raven Village. If it is not acquired, the university could potentially be blocked from growth of the campus to the west and become landlocked.”

Historic Hall Reopens for Caffeine-Fueled Students

Today@Sam reports the iconic Austin Hall, which in decades past served as a student social center, will soon be open to students with Austin Mugs Coffee Shoppe:

Time Capsule: Persons Who Should Not Enter the Normal

As we celebrate the 130th anniversary of the first day of classes at the Sam Houston Normal Institute, we present a series of remarks from the SHNI catalogue, as printed in History of Education in Texas (1903):

If you desire to prepare for the study of law, medicine, or theology, do not come to the normal.

If you wish merely to obtain a general education, do not come to the normal.

This is not a reform school. It is not a place for children. Boys or girls incapable of self-control should not enter the normal.

If you have not completed a course of study that would fit you to enter a good high school, you can not be profited by our work, and should not apply for admission.

Our work is special, and will suit none but those preparing for the teacher’s profession. If you wish to teach in our country schools, our city schools, or high schools, we can give you good instruction by trained and skillful teachers, with all needed helps in the way of apparatus, libraries, etc., and special professional training that will be most valuable. But the normal school is not a college or university. If you are merely seeking to obtain a general education to prepare yourself for other than the teacher’s profession, do not come here. Our work will not suit you, and we will not be satisfied with you. Only those desiring to prepare for the great work of the teacher should come to the normal.

USC Law School Wasn’t First "in the Southwest"

Roger Grace writes in the Los Angeles Metropolitan News Enterprise that the University of Southern California’s website lays claim to be being home to “the first law school in the Southwest.” Grace counters that this isn’t so.

On March 17, 1855, the website of the Texas Historical Assn. says, “the first law school in Texas was established at Austin College” in Huntsville. It continues:

“Previously, all legal training in Texas had taken place by apprenticeship. The innovation was discontinued at Austin College after four students had completed the one-year course….”

Austin College still exists. Its March, 2009 magazine muses:

“Had the law school survived the money problems that doomed it, today it would be among the oldest dozen law schools in the U.S.”

The college is now in Sherman, Texas — but the Huntsville building in which its law school was housed is extant (on the campus of the Sam Houston State University) and a plaque on it commemorates the “First Law School in Texas.”

KatFans: Fixing Austin Hall?

A discussion has started at KatFans discussing the state of Austin Hall, SHSU’s oldest building:

I've been going by Austin Hall a lot recently, and every time I've gone by I've noticed more and more stuff on the outside of the building that's been falling into disrepair (missing shutters, peeling paint, huge chunks missing from the pillars on the back side, etc). Because of Austin Hall's historical significance for the university and for the state, I've made my new goal in life to get Austin Hall repaired and restored.

I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to find any state funding that may be set aside for preservation of historical sites (Austin Hall has the Texas Historical Commission medallion on the back part of the building). I've been looking on the THC's website, but really haven't been able to find anything. Does anyone here know anything about any money that may be set aside for this by the state?

Something about Abner H. Cook

The name Abner Cook has popped up in a handful of news articles of late, what with the Sunday, June 8 fire at the Texas Governor’s Mansion in Austin. Cook designed the Greek revival building in the mid-1850s and it has been the home of every Chief Executive since 1856 (that being the term of Elisha M. Pease for those playing along at home).

Prior to his time in Austin, Cook lived and worked in Huntsville where his best-known project was the Texas State Penitentiary, or the Walls Unit, completed in 1848. However, there has been a long-standing assumption that Cook had a hand in creating the iconic Greek-revival Austin College Building on the SHSU campus.

Paul Culp, the university’s Special Collections librarian notes in an 1989 article that:

It has been traditionally maintained that Austin College was designed by Abner Cook, the master builder who created the finest residences in Texas before the Civil War (notably the Governor’s Mansion and a number of other beautiful house still standing in Austin), but evidence for this is largely circumstantial. He came to Huntsville...to build the penitentiary...and he was a trustee of Austin College; however he returned to Austin in 1850 (before the building was begun) and he is not mentioned except possibly by inference in the contract for construction which is preserved in the Walker County deed records. It is certainly not a wild conjecture, however, to assume that Cook would leave plans with his friend Robert Smither for a project in which he was so involved.

As for the Governor’s Mansion, it was said to be haunted by a handful of ghosts including that of Sam Houston himself.

Time Capsule: 1982

February 12, 1982: Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fire that destroyed the 92-year-old Main Building, severely damaged the roof of the Austin College Building, and drastically changed the skyline of Huntsville.

The Hottest Haunted Spots on Campus

Another in a series of ghost stories from Sam Houston State University, courtesy today’s Houstonian:

Austin College, now known as Austin Hall, has been here since 1879, making it the oldest building on campus. Many have claimed that a maid watches out the right hand far window on the third floor. Others say that it is a small boy. Some even say that Sam Houston walks the halls of the historic building. It has been said that a black Raven pecks at the same window that the ghost sightings have occurred....

This is not the only haunted building on campus. The University Archivist, Barbara Kievit-Mason, says that she has seen a ghost in the Peabody building a number of times. She used to work in the old library alone. Occasionally she would work with a student assistant, but most of her time was spent alone-- or so she thought. After the first appearance of the ghost, the visits became pretty regular. During the quiet work hours, the harmless spirit would simply appear. The spirit is that of a lady who appears to be from the early 20th century. She wears a long, black, high-line neck dress. Her face remains unclear. Kievit-Mason said that she assumes that the lady is one of the first librarians or professors....

Throughout the years, rumors have also evolved. A few stories that are often seen as fact have been proven to be false. It has been said that the when the old music building burned down that students and children were killed. Supposedly these people continue to linger around the new building, which is now the Evans Complex. Sometimes people say they can hear a random applause or laughing. This story is false. While some may hear unexplainable noises, no one was killed during the music building blaze.

Another false tradition is that someone haunts the Old Main Pit. There are no actual reported deaths in the Old Main building or the fire that engrossed the building.

Kievit-Mason says that there are plenty of stories that have been around for years and will continue to develop. "As far as I know, Tripod does not haunt this campus. Although, he should haunt the person that knocked over his head stone," she said.

Ghost Tales of Sam Houston State University

Halloween comes to Huntsville and the staff of the Houstonian does a hair-raising job of digging up some of the stories and legends from SHSU:

"The first story I ever heard was a girl shooting herself in a community bathroom on the ground floor of Belvin-Buchanan Hall. You're supposed to see the silhouette of her face on the wall," [Senior Shelbi] Blackmon said. "Supposedly, that's why there is a wall covering up the two bathrooms," she said.

"On the fire emergency exit map on the back of everyone's dorm room door, the maps on the ground floor show two bathrooms. If it's not true, then why are they on the map?" she asked.

JoEllen Tipton, director of Residence Life, begs to differ. "There has been no such thing like someone shooting themselves, or someone murdering somebody. UPD hasn't ever reported anything of that matter. There has been stories, but even then, in Belvin, there has never been bathrooms on the ground floor. The room on the ground floor that people mistake the bathroom for being, is a maintenance closet that holds air conditioning equipment," she said.

"We've heard the girl's face on the wall story, but none of the staff or faculty has ever seen it. In the late 70s, a lot of girls painted murals on the walls of the ground floor, which is also known as the garden floor. Depending on the paint color on the walls, in between the years, I'm guessing that some of the pictures might still show through the repainting renovations," Tipton said.

Blackmon also heard a rumor of a lady's picture hanging in the lobby of Belvin-Buchanan, that follows students when they walk by. The picture is of an old Residence Manager Mrs. W.H. Fannie Matthews.

Natali Rhymes, a resident manager at Elliott Hall had some grueling stories to share.

"Back in the day, there used to be four dorm rooms on the ground floor. Supposedly, a girl was killed in her room. The rooms were then renovated into a lounge for the bottom floor. If you go to the ground floor of Elliot by yourself at nighttime, you're supposed to see a girl combing her hair in the reflection," said Rhymes.

Anyone interested in seeing the facts for themselves will have to wait. A tar problem on the bottom floor caused the lounge area to be reconstructed. Now, the area is being considered for central staff offices.

Rhymes has had plenty of weird and freaky things happen to her, but the worst was when she was a house manager at the old Chi Omega House, now the Stuart House, which houses the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.

"...I heard that an old Chi Omega alum hung herself in her shower of one of the rooms. Some of the sorority girls told me about the incident. Anyways, a little while after that, I was doing room checks and the room that she had killed herself wouldn't open with my master key. In fact, you had to go through the suite to get to the room. If you unlocked the door to the bathroom and left, and then came back, the door would be locked," said Rhymes.

"I think it's fun to think something happened because the buildings are so old," [Belvin-Buchanan Hall Resident Manager Jessica Truscott] explained.

A faculty/staff member who didn't want their name published, said that there are ghosts in the Peabody Building and Austin Hall. In the Peabody Building, there is supposedly an older woman in a long black dress who visits the building in the daytime. If the music being played on the radio is not the music the ghost likes, she'll pull the cord out of the socket. In Austin Hall, an elderly maid stands at the end window looking out towards the courthouse. Sam Houston's ghost is also rumored to appear at nighttime in one of the back windows and also looks out.

The Austin Hall Sesquicentennial

On a warm day in June 150 years ago Sunday General Sam Houston traveled up the hill a short distance from his Woodland Home to help mark the beginning of construction on Austin Hall, which has become Sam Houston State University's architectural symbol.

To honor this sesquicentennial occasion, the Peabody Memorial Library and archives is presenting an exhibit of memorabilia relating to Austin Hall's history. Peabody is located a few feet east of Austin Hall, in the university's historic Quadrangle, and is open from 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The exhibit is scheduled to run June 25-July 13.

Today@Sam goes on to say that we know "Sam Houston slept here," in his Woodland Home. We know he attended meetings in Austin Hall. We know where he is buried, in a Huntsville cemetery north of the campus. But we can't find the Austin Hall cornerstone, and it too may be buried.

Austin Hall has been changed. Its cupola was removed so that a third floor could be added, and then taken off. The Old Main Building was built nearby, in 1889. The most recent work was completed in 1986 after the building was damaged by the 1982 fire that destroyed the Old Main, returning it to its pre-1881 appearance.

Somewhere along the way the cornerstone was covered, by earth or bricks. A pre-1881 photograph of the building, which is part of the Peabody exhibit, shows a white area on the northwest corner of Austin Hall, which might be a cornerstone.

But Ralph Spencer, an architect who is completing his third master plan for the Sam Houston State campus, said that "Masons always place the cornerstone at the northeast corner. I do not think one is there."

All in all it's just another brick in the wall.