This photo was taken from about the same location in about 1950 after Old Main was widened. The trees in this photo appear to be only about 20-25 years old and evenly spaced.



This is an earlier photo taken from the same location before Old Main Building was destroyed by fire in 1912.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/15/2007 11:15p).]

Edit: Note the flag pole was not in front of the Old Main Building at that time. The flag pole was located two buildings to the left in front of Ross Hall which was the Commandant's Headquarters.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/15/2007 11:18p).]

AGDotCom .... If you are interested in A&M trivia in more detail you can go down to the West Texas Forum and scroll down to Strange West Texas Connections. Pages 7-11 are primarily from the days of A&M College.

Correction to a post above regarding electrical power at A&M. In 1901 A&M College completed a "new" power plant at a cost of $17,000. (According to Brazos County Historical Timeline.)

FossilAg

Unless the current renovation at the YMCA Bldg removed it, the old swimming pool is still there and accessible - if you know where to look.

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Unless the current renovation at the YMCA Bldg removed it, the old swimming pool is still there and accessible - if you know where to look.

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Do tell.

Is that top pic a photo or a painting? Looks like a painting.

91_Ag ... I am not familiar with the process but I think the upper photo was hand painted over a B&W photo. In those earlier photography times this was most common as picture post cards. The West Gate picture above was probably originally purchased at a local drug store. The technique apparently called for a lot of skill which is probably the reason you only saw them in commercial venues. (Full color lithography was available before color photography became available to the public.)

The lower picture of Old Main from West Gate was from a process called tinting. Sometimes the B&W photo was printed on tinted paper and sometimes tinted with a colored wash similar to water colors. Into the 40s hand tinting of B&W photographs was popular ... pretty bad but best we had.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/16/2007 9:11a).]

Main Entrance, A.& M. College of Texas. BRYAN, Texas.

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I wonder what happened to the old gates and pillars?

so where do you look phil?

For those of you interested in the history of Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M, the link below presents all significant events in a Timeline from 1800-present.

http://www.brazosgenealogy.org/data/time2.htm

One significant bit of "news" that this Timeline will reveal is that from early times faculty and administrators at A&M College promoted the enrollment of women to the school.

Tex Aggie ... As late as the early 50s the wrought iron fences were mostly in place around the perimeter of main campus. Over time sections were removed until in about 1980 the last sections were removed and sold as surplus. Many locals purchased sections and those are visible fencing yards of many homes in BCS.

YMCA Swimming Pool ... The pool was not the only thing lost in the renovations of the YMCA in 1954 and 1969. Before that it was a beautiful building as finely appointed as Cushing Library if you have had a chance to visit there since its restoration.

1915

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The new YMCA building opens its doors. Col. Edward B. Cushing '80 of the Southern Pacific railroad headed a committee of former students and with a pledge of $30,000 from John D. Rockefeller secured the funds for the building. The classical structure provided the students with a multitude of services and facilities which included reading rooms, Bible study rooms, an ornate tiled swimming pool, dining room, kitchen, alumni association rooms, auditorium and bowling alleys. Two large fireplaces added to the overall ambiance of what came to be thought of as the campus parlor. As predicted by Cushing, the new 'Y' became the center of campus social life until the MSC was constructed in 1950.

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[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/16/2007 12:23p).]

Thanks for that timeline, fossil_ag. That's a great site.

I find this interesting:

1871 Feb 9 Wellborn Jesse M. Neeley appointed postmaster at Wellborn.

I will assume that is the same Neeley family that operated the Wellborn Post Office at Neeley's Store until the 1980's. If true, that's over 100 years in the same family.

Thank God for modern medicine...

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Sep 14, 1867

Millican:

The postmaster at Millican, after closing the post-office, addresses the following letter to the Telegraph: P.O. Millican, Texas, Sept. 9th, 1867. P.M. Houston, Texas: Sir: Yellow fever is in our midst--4 deaths have already occurred and several more cases exist. The citizens are badly frightened, all who can, have left; `twill be useless to send mail matter to this place from this date, as no one will be here to receive it. I have my goods packed & am ready to leave, will send you notice upon my return. I am, very respectfully, Chas. W. Gardiner, Acting P.M.; P.S.--Please inform citizens.

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Seeing how bad the flu has been recently, I might have packed up and left.

I saw that too, jonlee....did you notice the very next entry?

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The P.O. at Millican is now discontinued. The postmaster has fled to the woods, & the telegraph operator is dead.

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"Fled to the woods". I almost fell out of my chair after reading that.

The pool is still there. When Payroll was in the basement of the YMCA, you could walk by the pool and lift up pieces of wood and see it. They were using it as storage for documents.

Now the building is abandoned. I know one of the things on Dr. Gates priority list was to go forward with funding the renovation.

Yikes

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The first mention of "stag" dances appears, published in the Texas Collegian, the campus newspaper. The custom of holding these all-male dances, where selected cadets are designated as "girls," continues into the 1920s.

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At the Large Animal Clinic lobby there is an Old 1919* aerial photo of campus. Texas ave/Hwy 6 is a small dirt road

The Texas Legislature established he Texas Department of Highways (later TxDot) in 1917. To that time and for some years later, Texans traveled on an interconnecting web of dirt (mud) county roads.

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The pool is still there. When Payroll was in the basement of the YMCA, you could walk by the pool and lift up pieces of wood and see it. They were using it as storage for documents.

Now the building is abandoned. I know one of the things on Dr. Gates priority list was to go forward with funding the renovation.

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Oh wow...it's empty right now (don't know that I'd say abandoned)? I remember they vacated it back in about 2002 to do rennovations, but I assumed those had long since been completed.

About the pool...that's pretty sweet that you can still see it. So you're saying that they just put down wood planks on top of it and stored boxes of documents under the planks? LOL.

I'm gonna have to find out who's in charge of that bldg. and see about arranging for them to show me around. I remember that me and some buddies were supposed to do that back in 2001/2002, but it never materialized. Anyone else interested in tagging along if I can arrange a little touring of the building? If any of y'all here know somebody and can pull some strings in that regard, let me know.

I would definitely be interested in a tour of the old place.

I have not been inside the YMCA Building since the 70s, shortly after the 1969 renovation. At ground level, rooms like the reading room below had been sectioned into office cubicles and all character had been lost (I do not recall even seeing the marble floors.)



At the main floor level (at the top of the entry steps) which originally led into the vaulted chapel area it appeared that the space had been divided into office areas and the wood and masonry had been covered (or gutted.)

The ranks of us who enjoyed that wonderful place are thinning by the day. Arrange your tour and if it appears the place can be restored please report back. Administrations during the 60s and 70s did some very stupid things ... it would be good if we could help correct one of them.

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The first mention of "stag" dances appears, published in the Texas Collegian, the campus newspaper. The custom of holding these all-male dances, where selected cadets are designated as "girls," continues into the 1920s.

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This wasn't an unusual thing. On the Lewis and Clark expedition, one of the men with them took a bandanna out and tied it around his arm to symbolize being "the girl" one night when they had music playing. I believe this was also done in mining camps.

Hopefully there wasn't any freak dancing going on!

In the 1950s in the Academic Building on the northeast wall of the second floor rotundra was a reproduction of Michelangelo's The Creation of Man. It appeared to be a reproduction painted on the bare wall. I am curious to know if that painting withstood the passage of time ... and hundreds of idle passersby. It was a beautiful piece of work in earlier times.

here is pic of some of the guys in my dad's company back around 1950. I'm not sure of the exact date and dad doesn't remember. He was at A&M from 48 to 50 then went in to the Airforce and came back in 54 and finished his undergrad and masters in 58.

my old man is squating bellow the sign in the middle with the pipe.

here are some more photos I found around the house.



some postcards:

GCRanger ... That is an outstanding collection of memorabilia from from earlier years. You should make arrangements for the collection to go to the University Archives before family interest fades.

Regarding the date of the top photo. With the information given, i.e. 48-50, I would date the photo is Winter '49 or early Spring '50. Reasons: Fellows in the photo are Sophomores as evidenced by long hair, "flat" AMC brass, khaki ties, "green" pants. The photo would have been taken at a dorm on main campus, the Freshman year having been spent at Bryan Air Base. (This group graduated Spring '52, I arrived Fall '52.)

In the fourth row down of the photos and to the left of the pic of Bonfire is an interesting building. In 77 and 78 the Kleberg Center and the Soil and Crop Science were completed on West Campus ... but notice the small building located between the new construction and Wellborn Road. That building housed the college Creamery. Built sometime between 1916 and 1926, all dairy products (milk, cheeses, ice cream) consumed in dining halls on campus were processed there. A new creamery lab was built in 1956 but the old creamery was in partial use until it was demolished in 1979. Then West Campus was connected to Wellborn Road.


Edward Kruse '49 and Howard Kruse '52 of Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham spent many days in that Little Old Creamery at A&M.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/17/2007 5:53p).]

Regarding the 1899 Graduation Announcement. We all recognize the name of E.J. Kyle as Class President. But were you aware that he was also the Ranking Officer of the Corps that year? In addition, that year E. J. Kyle was acting Commandant of Cadets from March 16-May 1 during the illness of the Commandant. In 1911 Kyle was named first Dean of Agriculture at A&MC and served as such until 1944. (In the mid-50s he would pop in to visit with students in the Agriculture Building, a warm and gracious gentleman.)

How many of you noticed that the Fightin' Aggie Band in the sixth row of pictures down is not playing at Kyle Field ... but at Memorial Stadium in Austin (before that stadium got its second deck.)

The first level of original Kyle was (and is) the same height in the horseshoe and on the sides. Note also, Kyle Field has 55 US flags along the top rim of the stadium (for 55 killed in WWI) and the stadium above has Texas flags.

I suspect that game was being played in the early 1950s, because, during the years 1948-1952 Freshmen were not members of the marching FTAB. Fish Band was at Bryan Air Base 1948-Spring 1952 and in Fall 1952 lived in a separate dorm on campus... thus as in this photo the marching band had fewer marching members. The FTAB in 1953 had almost 100 additional members.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/18/2007 9:10a).]

Here's the old Police Training School. I guess the current equivalent of this is out at the TEEX Riverside Campus. Heck, that might be where this picture was taken too, I dunno.

Fossil, thanks for the info on the pics. I'm archiving this thread so I don't lose this info. I will most likely donate all the pics I have to the archive after I graduate next year.

My dad told me that he lived in barracks at Riverside Campus after he came back from the Airforce in '54. At least I think that's when he lived out there. Can you tell us more about riverside's use in the 50's? thanks.

GCRanger ... After WWII ended in Aug 1945 Veterans were eligible for grants under the G.I. Bill for college education. A great number converged on A&M. By 1946 all dormitories and classrooms at the college were at capacity and all apartment and bedroom space in the surrounding area was filled. The Army had demobilized Bryan Air Base and given it to A&M. To solve overcrowding, President Gibb Gilchrist decreed that beginning in the Fall 1947 all Freshmen would be housed at Bryan Air Base. Most and possibly all Freshman classes were conducted there also, but there could have been some bussing to/from main campus. Freshmen at Bryan Field continued through the Spring of 1952. In the Fall of 1952 I was in the first class of Freshmen back on main campus in five years. By that time most of the Veterans had graduated and the college was back to normal enrollment ... and Bryan Air Field was pretty much turned over to TEES and TEEX.

Your dad would have lived at Bryan Air Field from Fall 1948 through the Spring Semester 1949. (His experience would have rivaled the "Junction Boys." WWII GI barracks, GI mess halls, no air conditioning, no transportation and 10 miles from civilization.) By 1954 the Corps was mostly housed in the dormitories on the quadrangle anchored by Duncan Dining Hall and most other dormitories were assigned to civilian students.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/17/2007 9:22p).]

Oh wow, that's awesome Fossil. Do you have any other info/pictures of Riverside? I've noticed that there's still a lot of stuff out there from the air field days. The air traffic control tower is there and there's also a huge red and white mast on the runway that I think might be for some sort of signal flag system. Got anything else about Riverside?