The campus of Texas A&M University, also known as Aggieland, is situated in the city of College Station, in the U.S. state of Texas. Texas A&M is centrally located within 200 miles (320 km) of three of the ten largest cities in the United States and 75% of the Texas and Louisiana populations. Aggieland's major roadway is State Highway 6, and several smaller state highways and Farm to Market Roads connect the area to larger highways such as Interstate 45.
The campus is bisected by a set of railroad tracks primarily operated by Union Pacific Railroad. The area east of the railroad tracks is known as "Main Campus" and includes many of the academic buildings, the Memorial Student Center, Kyle Field, and the student dormitories. The portion of the campus west of the railroad tracks is known as "West Campus" and includes most of the other sports facilities, the business school, agricultural programs, the veterinary college, the George Bush Presidential Library and the medical school. The area of West Campus along Kimbrough Boulevard is known as "Research Park" and includes many research facilities.
History
Establishment
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, later known as Texas A&M University was established by the Texas State Legislature on April 17, 1871 as the state's first public institution of higher education. The legislature provided $75,000 for the construction of buildings at the new school. A committee tasked with finding a home for the new college chose Brazos County, which agreed to donate 2,416 acres (10 km2) of land.
The college officially opened on October 4, 1876, with six professors. Livestock roamed freely but cautiously, and the area served as a meeting point for the Great Western Cattle Trail. The first building to be placed on campus was known as Old Main. "A stately, semi-classic building four stories in height", Old Main housed all the activities of the college for the first ten years of the school's existence. In the following three decades, it played a prominent part in A&M activities and housed the offices of the school's presidents. The building caught fire in the early hours of May 27, 1912, and was unable to be saved.
Sul Ross era
Many people credit Texas A&M president Lawrence Sullivan Ross, known affectionately to students as "Sully", with saving the school from closure and transforming it into a respected military institution. Ross, the immediate past governor of Texas, had been a well-respected Confederate soldier along with being a Baylor graduate and he enjoyed a good reputation among state residents. When Ross arrived at the school in February 1891, he found that there was no running water, the school was suffering a housing shortage, the faculty was disgruntled, and many of the students ran wild. Ross promptly began instituting improvements. When students returned for the 1891–1892 school year, they found a new three–story, 41 room dormitory (named Ross Hall), the beginning of construction on a new home for the president, and a new building to house the machine and blacksmith shops. Even with the addition of a new dormitory, space was still at a premium. Some cadets were forced to live on the fourth floor of the main building.Benner (1983), p. 206.
Enrollment continued to rise, so much so that by the end of his tenure Ross requested that parents first communicate with his office before sending their sons to the school.Benner (1983), p. 218. The increase in students necessitated an improvement in facilities, and from fall 1891 until September 1898 the college spent over $97,000 on improvements and new buildings. This included construction of an infirmary, which included the first indoor toilets on campus, a new artesian well, a natatorium, four new faculty residences, an electric light plant, an ice works, a laundry, a cold storage room, a slaughterhouse, a gymnasium, a warehouse, and an artillery shed.Benner (1983), p. 219.
The last major campus construction overseen by Ross was the development of the Mess Hall. Designed by architectural firm Glover and Allen and opened in 1897, the Mess Hall could originally seat 500 students. Its front porches were later enclosed to double the seating capacity, making the Mess Hall the largest dining hall in Texas. An accidental kitchen fire on the morning of November 11, 1911, destroyed the building. Its replacement, Sbisa Dining Hall, remains one of the primary dining centers on campus.
During this time one of the more recognizable features of the Texas A&M landscape, the Century Oak Tree, was planted. The massive oak tree, located in Academic Plaza, would become a favored place for students to propose marriage.
Early 20th century The focal point of campus for much of the early 20th century was Military Walk, a 1,500-foot (460 m) street that connected the former Guion Hall, now the location of the Rudder Theatre Complex, with Sbisa Dining Hall. Lined with oak trees, the avenue provided access to Assembly Hall (1889–1929), Foster Hall (1899–1951), Ross Hall (1891–1955), Gaithright Hall (1876–1933), and Mitchell Hall (1912–1972). The street was closed in 1971. Many of the original trees remain, but buildings, walk ways, and grassy areas were added in place of the street itself.
The school began offering an expanded choice of degree programs at the same time that the state legislature and the United States Department of Agriculture established several services at Texas A&M. The college was unprepared for the ensuing population growth. For the next ten years, several hundred students lived in tents in a field in the middle of campus.
In the late 1920s, following the discovery of oil on university lands, Texas A&M and the University of Texas negotiated a settlement for the division of the Permanent University Fund which enabled A&M to receive one-third of the revenue. This guaranteed wealth enabled A&M to grow and expand.
Post-World War II Enrollment soared after World War II (WWII) as many former servicemen used the G.I. Bill to further their education. Again unprepared for the growth, between 1946 and 1950 Texas A&M used the inactive Bryan Air Force Base, west of Bryan near the Brazos River, as an extension of the campus. An estimated 5,500 men lived, studied, ate, and attended classes at the base, which became known as the Annex. Former students describe living and studying in cramped, cheaply built and already-dilapidated WWII buildings without heating, air conditioning or indoor plumbing, and having to hitchhike to and from the remote site if they did not have their own cars.
In 1951, with the outbreak of the Korean War, the base was reactivated for United States Air Force (USAF) pilot training. In the late 1950s, after combat in Korea had wound down, the USAF inactivated the base again. The USAF fully vacated the base in May 1961 and the land and buildings were leased to Texas A&M in 1962 under an arrangement that would allow the university to buy the property at a heavily discounted price in the future. The facility was named the Research Annex.
Late 20th century The George Bush Presidential Library was established in 1997 on of land donated by Texas A&M at the western edge of the campus. This tenth presidential library was built between 1995 and 1997 and contains the presidential and vice-presidential papers of George H. W. Bush and the vice-presidential papers of Dan Quayle.
In 1998, activists on campus (including Professor Patrick Slattery) suggested the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross should be removed on the basis that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Instead, Slattery and others wanted to create a "diversity plaza", with a statue of Matthew Gaines, an African-American politician. The project was abandoned in the wake of the Aggie Bonfire tragedy, in 1999.
The 2004 Campus Master Plan To address the rapid growth of the student body and faculty, Texas A&M created a Campus Master plan that provided guidelines on campus development. The plan created by the architectural firm Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects with Michael Dennis & Associates, was completed in July 2004. The primary goals of the plan were to: reinforce campus identity and community, establish connectivity, create architecture that contributes positively to the campus community, promote spatial equity and appropriateness, promote sustainability, and develop a supportive process to achieve the goals above.
Major components of the plan include New Main Drive Administration Building/East Lawn Area East Quad East-West Pedestrian Walks Library Quad and Diversity Plaza Academic Quad and Military Walk Simpson Drill Field and the New Underpasses New West Quad and Wellborn Road West Campus Extension of Old Main White Creek Greenway
Texas A&M's master plan has won several awards including: Campus Planning Award from the Boston Society of Architects and a 2004 design award from the Texas Society of Architects.
Current status
Following the completion of the master plan, Texas A&M has begun some of the largest construction projects in its history. In 2007, the Texas A&M University system had close to 700 million dollars of construction projects planned or already underway in the Bryan College Station area. To fund this expansion, the university is relying on state funding, donations, fees and tuition revenue bonds to cover costs.
The first major building of this construction phase, the $95 million Interdisciplinary Life Sciences building, is the largest building on campus. In addition, Texas A&M is constructed two physics buildings dedicated to astronomical research with funds from a donation by George P. W. Mitchell. From late 2008 to August 2011, Texas A&M constructed a $104 million, Emerging Technologies and Economic Development Interdisciplinary Building. Outside of main campus, Texas A&M Health Science Center is constructing a new campus on in Bryan, Texas. The first building on this new campus opened in 2010. On December 16, 2010, Texas A&M broke ground on a new Humanities and Arts building. This building is especially notable because of the institution's "historical focus on engineering and agriculture". The school finished renovations and reopened on the Memorial Student Center on April 21, 2012.
In addition to academic facilities, athletics director Bill Byrne has overseen an aggressive expansion of the university's sports faculties since his hiring in 2003. Under his leadership, Texas A&M completed several athletics facilities including the McFerrin Athletic Center, an indoor football practice field and track and field facility. The center was host of the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships. The department has also completed the Cox-McFerrin Center, a practice facility for the men's and women's basketball teams. The school recently renovated the schools baseball stadium, Olsen Field, with a name change to Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park following a $7 million donation from Blue Bell Creameries. The field was reopened on February 17, 2012. Future plans include the renovation of Kyle Field.
In 2025, Texas A&M University approved the construction of the Aplin Center, with completion expected in 2028. The $250 million, 211,724-square-foot facility will support experiential learning in hospitality, retail, marketing, food and nutrition, while also serving as a campus visitor center.
Areas
Main Campus