quote:

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In the early 80s the school sold its former campus and relocated east of Bryan to the intersection of Hwy 1179 and Boonville Road (158.) The school also changed to Pre-K through HS.

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Has it been that long since it moved?

FWIW, boarding is still available, although military training is not. I understand Allen now has Christian instruction as well.

Also in the FWIW department, radio station 5XB is now known as WTAW.

EVA3 .... You are partly correct about WTAW having a close association with station 5XB ... but the 5XB station did not evolve into WTAW.

The A&MC Amateur Radio Club was founded and licensed in 1912 and has been in continuous operation since then, making it one of the oldest radio clubs in the US.

Its succession of call letters through the years has been:

5AC, circa 1914,
5YA, Fall of 1920, (Y meant a Technical or Training School radio license)
5XB, late 1920 through at least 1922, (X meant an experimental radio license, which was allowed higher power output than Y stations)
5XAU, circa 1924,
5AQY, up to October 1, 1928
W5AQY, up to the 1940's
(No civilian broadcast were permitted in WWII)
W5AC, since September 11, 1947 to present.

The radio stations 5XB (earlier 5AC) and WTAW are related only in that both are wireless radio, and both had their origins within the confines of the Electrical Engineering Dept at A&MC ... and several members of the A&M radio club were involved in both stations.

Proof enough for me that the same persons were involved in the birth of both stations is that those famous letters in WTAW that we always accepted as Watch The Aggies Win, under scrutiny are the initials backward of W.A. Tolson ('23)of that famous 5XB broadcast of the football game ... the Chief Operator of both stations.

Now, back to basics. WTAW and 5XB were two completely different wireless stations and required separate FCC licensing and different operating methods and frequencies. WTAW operated on a fixed frequency in the Low Frequency band; 5XB operated in the High Frequency radio band. Except for co-location and co-conspirators the two stations were in two separate worlds.

Stations shown above from 5AC to present-day W5AC operated by the Radio Club are commonly described as Ham Radio stations. Originally operating in the HF bands, they now have capability in VHF and UHF via satellite and can reach easily all of north and south America. Over the years the club has served voluntarily to react to disasters to provide emergency radio links with Ham operators and relief agencies on both continents.

WTAW began voice transmissions on its assigned frequency in 1922. It operated as a university owned station until 1957. From 1954 to 1956 I listened to WTAW to hear a DJ named A.J. Wynn spin country records ... sometime broadcasting from Shiloh Hall. A.J. was the father of Buddy Wynn, our county tax collector. WTAW was sold to an outside group in 1957 and has been a commercial station ever since. A good history of WTAW is contained in the link below, but the author makes a common error in describing the association of WTAW with 5XB. (Corporate PR over-reaching?)

http://www.wtaw.com/history.php#top

Edit: From 1922 to 1957 WTAW operated under the auspicies of several A&M departments ... first under the EE department and some of the others were the Ag Extension Service and the college Information Office. The person in the Information Office who was last to wrestle with WTAW was a person named Henderson Schuffler ... he is the person who lived in the white house on the east side of Spence Park when I could not think of his name several posts ago.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 3/1/2007 9:21p).]

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 3/1/2007 9:29p).]

Fossil Ag, thanks for all the info on the academies. You mention two houses being east of the Academy and north of Ursuline. The two houses you mention are multi storied mansion w/ large white columns out front. One burned down or was demolished about 6 or 7 yrs ago. The other is maintained by the prison, at least to the point where you will see inmates out mowing the lawn. My friend that lives across the street from there tells me that the mansion that burned was occupied by an elderly lady who wouldn't sell the house and eventually went to a nursing home Caldwell (I think). The house was already in disrepair and my friend said there was still some funiture inside. Kids used to play around inside and many windows were broken out when I was still living in the area. It was a shame to see that house destroyed. Along the stretch of ursuline between the prison and the houses on the south side, the street is lined w/ really nice oak trees where you can kind of get the feel of what the neighborhood was like when the academy was still in operation.
I'm glad y'all started this thread because it fills in the blanks on questions I've had about the area there where I used to live.

Surely all of you recognize the building in the photo below as G. Rollie White Coliseum, "Jolly Rollie", "Hollar House on the Brazos."

And just as surely as you ventured inside and around G.Rollie you have had questions about the building's architecture. Why does the back part of the building look as if it were just tacked on as an afterthought? And, why does the back wall inside the auditorium appear to be a temporary structure? Did the builder just work so long then quit?



As you may have deduced, there is a story there.

The time was very early in the year 1954. Paul (Bear) Bryant had just signed a contract to become Coach/AD at A&MC. In addition to a 5-year, $25,000/year contract, Bryant demanded the college provide him a new athletic arena for basketball, field house, coaches offices, etc., plus a hotel-type dormitory for athletes.

So work began immediately on a splendid coliseum that was to become Jolly Rollie. There was a hitch to this. Bryant's new projects jumped ahead of several planned new buildings that had been on hold for many years. WWII had halted new constructions and the space crunch of G I Bill veteran students from 1946-51 had caused many buildings overdue the wrecking ball being extended. For example, the Creamery Building, vital to student feeding, was absolutely falling down but bumped from the list.

Despite the overwhelming desire to beat TU in football, loud grumblings arose from the faculty because of the rearranging of the construction priority list. I was not privy to the conversations taking place but I do know that in a short period of time A&MC had a president and three deans move to greener pastures. There was definitely a connection.

But, whatever, in the Fall of 1954 construction of G.Rollie was declared complete ... even though reportedly only one half of its planned size. The reason given for the temporary back wall was that construction would resume at a "later time." (The temporary back wall is still there ... 53 years later.)

So G.Rollie was complete in the Fall of 1954 with a seating capacity of 7,800 (8,600 with bleachers on the floor.) The plans for an athlete hotel were scrapped and athletes continued to be housed in existing dorms. A new Dairy Science building went back to the top of construction priority and was completed in early 1956. Sometime later an addition was tacked onto the back of G.Rollie for kinesiology classrooms (again an architectural marvel.) The location of the patch is highly visible.

G.Rollie was the only auditorium for major college events such as graduations with its 7,800 capacity, and for basketball, until 1998 when Reed Arena was completed. Through the 80s and 90s, graduating seniors were limited to 2 or 3 tickets for guests for the graduation ceremony.

Bear Bryant remained at A&MC through the 1957 Fall football season, and then before the last game of the season announced he was going back home to Alabama with his banjo on his knee.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 3/2/2007 7:47p).]

The Read Bldg. is so jacked up. It's clear on the inside that it wasn't very well thought out and was at least in some ways an afterthought. The inside looks like it was built in the 70s with all the orange, green, yellow, red, and blue. Is that true?

Read Building? I don't understand the question.

Edit: OK I found it on the map. I am not familiar with that building and the other items under the east side stands at Kyle Field.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 3/2/2007 7:54p).]

The Read Bldg. is the part of G. Rollie that looks like it was just tacked on as an afterthought...cause it was. Are you referring to some other part of the building?

There are pictures of the Read Building at the link below. Both the silver colored building and the brick building are the Read Building (although the brick part is made to look like G. Rollie). G. Rollie starts right about where that bicycle is in the last pic.

AggiePhil ... We are on the same page. The original 1954 construction on G.Rollie ended where the line of windows at the top of the buildig ends. Sometime later (70s I think)that next brick section was patched onto the rear of GR. Later still the silver building was added on for Recreational Sports ... to the west side of the "new" section and going under the stands on the east side of Kyle Field. I had not heard that the G.Rollie extension was called a part of Read ... I thought Read was just the Rec Sports complex.

Eva, actually, according to their website, they moved out to 1179 in the late 80's - though that could be splitting hairs.

So is the old house from earlier in the conversation the same thing as what was known as the Allen house? It was still there in 1980 when I moved here. Always wanted to go explore it. I had been under the impression that it had been used as a dorm. Had a friend who lived in one of the big old houses across from the two next to Allen Academy. We used to spend the night there and watch horror movies. The old house really lent an air of authenticity to the movies.

TxElsie ... Your memory of dates regarding Allen Academy's move are more correct than my earlier guesstimate.

quote:

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In the early 80s the school sold its former campus and relocated east of Bryan to the intersection of Hwy 1179 and Boonville Road (158.) The school also changed to Pre-K through HS.

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My son was in the last graduating class at the old Allen campus and a member of the last year of military class there. He graduated in 1986 instead of in the "early 80s" and if I recall there was some lag time before construction began on the new campus. There were only eight in his graduating class. The headmaster's house was called Allen House. That house appeared uninhabited from about 1979 on.

I hated to see the old Allen campus close but I suppose it had no choice. Many of the buildings in use were from the original construction in 1917 and a ton of money would be needed to bring the buildings up to standards. The neighborhood where it was located had also aged. The number of boarding students had dropped to less than 10. The question for the Allen Board was whether to spend money on repairs or move to a more visible location. The purchase offer from the Federal Prison for the entire campus was too good to turn down. I am glad my son had a chance to participate in a part of Bryan history. To the day the old campus closed, the faculty, staff and student body of that old campus were proud of the school's traditions and accomplishments. I am sure many tears were shed in this community when the campus closed its doors the last time.

Fossil,
Any idea what happened to the tank that was out there in front of the main building?

I asked about the Tank at or near the time the campus closed. I was told that a loyal Allen alum who was on the Allen board and who had made serious financial contributions to the school over the years in an effort to keep it going had moved the Tank and several other historical items to his ranch for safekeeping (and possible restoration.) I doubt it will ever appear on the new campus but I am sure it is in good care. (I can recall the first name of the person but haven't yet dredged up the last name ... sometimes takes a while.)

In the last year or so an art teacher and her class had painted the tank with flowers and other decorations. This was the 70s generation so I suppose it was standard for the times.

I saw an Army tank near a barn/machine shop on OSR (maybe FM 50) just north of SH 21 West last year.

When traveling toward Navasota on hwy 6, a mile or so after passing the Speedway, look into the woods on the west side of the highway and you will spot tanks and other forms of WWII armament.

Brent Mullins, one of the top parts distributors for WWII war machinery, has his restoration shop and warehouse there. It is also the location of his Museum of the American G.I. If you need a part for your WWII Jeep, Tank, howitzer or what have you that is the place to check first.

Few people in BCS are aware of this place ... but he has customers worldwide. You heard this first on Texags. Visitors are welcome.

http://www.mullinsjeepparts.com/

fossil, since you seem to thrive on trivia, you might like this. Back in my day (the 1980's) Read hosted a lot of PE classes. The Riflery PHED class was even held there. There was a range set up in that building and, we used .22 pellet guns. It was obvious our backstop was the underside of Kyle Field.

Do they even offer Riflery as PE anymore?

Burd ... I cannot answer your question because I haven't kept up with activities on campus for 20 years or so ... except for Corps activities through my grandson and his buddies up through 2003.

The rifle range was under the east side of Kyle Field stands even back in the 50s. I would presume that old range is still in use.

I recall that the range under Kyle field was an archery range way back when. We used to watch the guys pracice there when we came over to ride bikes up and down the ramps at Kyle.

Re: Museum of the American GI. Brent is hosting his annual open house on March 17, 10-2. They will have their usual WWII reenactment battle. Also, Brent just purchased the top part (not sure what to call it) of the aircraft carrier Iwo Jima. He says it is 125' tall. When you pass by the museum you can see the parts of it out in the field. The plans are to fully restore it, and place it at the entrance to the museum. From the air, the parking lot will be a replica of the flight deck of the Iwo Jima. Brent never does anything half way!

That range is still there, but I believe is just used for pistol now. I could be wrong but I believe that was the case when I was a Rec Sports Medic in Read back in 2001. I know there's also a range in the Trigon and an archery "room" in the Rec Center.

Brent also has a "fleet" of WWII Jeeps and other equipment fully restored with period markings ready for special occasion use. In 1994 his Jeeps were rented by the folks in France for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Normandy invasion. His operation is one the community should be proud of. I restored a 1947 Jeep several years ago and Brent had all the parts I needed in stock. You can imagine how handy that was.

How A&MC Got Its Share of the Permanent University Fund

This is not a "historic photograph" of TAMU but it describes an event in A&MC history that older Ags can picture in their mind as vividly as if they were there. (This is history all Ags should be aware of.)

August 17, 1921 was the date the Santa Rita #1, the oilwell near Big Lake, was brought in on University Lands. The University lands were 2,000,000 acres of arid land in west Texas (soon to become the Permian Basin) that the earliest Texas legislature had set aside for the University of Texas. (A&M was a part of tu per the State Constitution.) Oil funds were flowing into the Permanent University Fund but the University of Texas refused to share with A&M. Many hot debates were held on this matter over the years and eventually reached a point where tu offered to give A&M one-fourth of the revenue; A&M was holding out for one-third.

The time was 1931. One more meeting was in progress between the tu Regents and the A&M Directors to discuss this matter. This meeting was being held at A&M on the second floor of a building overlooking Military Walk (probably Ross Hall.) The meeting was deadlocked on the 1/4th or 1/3rd share. Judge R.L. Batts, a distinguished lawyer, was Chairman of the tu Board of Regents.

The following is a quote from Francis Marion Law, head of the A&M Board of Directors at the meeting.

quote:

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About noon the bugle sounded for lunch. The cadet companies began to form and the band began to play. Judge Batts excused himself from the meeting and stepped out on the porch where he could witness the march. It was not until the last cadet had passed that he returned to the meeting I heard the Judge (and it seemed to me that he might be talking only to himself) say, "What difference does it make; they are all Texas boys."

Upon returning to his seat at the table Judge Batts turned to his fellow committee members and remarked that he felt that the position of A&M was just and that he would favor acceding to their suggestion of one-third.

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A provision in the State Constitution precludes the legislature appropriating any money for either University for permanent improvements. Before this 1931 meeting all buildings on the A&MC campus were funded through private sources. The share of Permanent University Funds (PUF) has financed all future buildings construction on the A&M campus.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 3/5/2007 12:01p).]

Surely this isn't the end of this thread. I want more! ::::knock:::knock:::: Anybody home? Did everyone leave for Spring Break already? ;-(

Bump in case we can resurrect this thread.

I cant get enough of these awesome photos!!!

OK, I will volunteer to be the first to contribute a bit of history of A&M College and A&M Consolidated School in this resurrected thread.

Few photos are more historical to the local area than one of Pfeuffer Hall on campus.



Pfeuffer Hall was the third building constructed on the A&M Campus, the earlier ones being the Old Main Building and Gathright Hall. Pfeuffer, built in 1887 was the first single purpose dormitory constructed on campus(Gathright housed students for the first 10 years but it was also the dining hall and President Gathright had an apartment on the top floor.)

Pfeuffer Hall faced the west and was located at the southeast corner of Old Main. When Old Main burned in 1912, the Academic Building was built at the same location. Pfeuffer had a twin building built in 1888, Austin Hall, located north of the Old Main that also was a two story dormitory.

One distinction of Pfeuffer Hall was that part of it was set aside as a school house for children of A&M faculty members. So it is correct to say that Pfeuffer was the first school building for a school that was chartered in 1909 to be A&M Consolidated School. (In 1940 Consol moved off campus.)

A&M faculty in those days (up until about 1940) lived in houses on campus provided by the college. The white house in the background is a faculty home. It faces on a dirt lane that later became Joe Routt Boulevard. The faculty housing area extended from that point west to the vicinity of the now Kyle Field athletic complex.

Pfeuffer Hall was torn down in 1954 ... two years after I arrived on the A&M scene.

Fossil,

Thanks for posting the picture of Pfeuffer Hall. I showed it to my Grandfather last night and he said it brought back great memories. He went to school there for grade school. He was Class of '44 at A&M Consolidated.

Fossil, what is the old brick school in Bryan over by Astin Mansion?

Double tap.

[This message has been edited by AggiePhil (edited 9/13/2007 5:23p).]

Astin Mansion ... located in Bryan at about West 26th Street and Sims Ave.



I am not sure about the building you are referring to ... but I suspect it is the old Bryan Hospital ... a large buff colored building in close proximity to Astin Mansion.

In the mid-70s I was moving back to BCS and was searching around the real estate market for a comfortable roosting location. Southwood Valley was about the newest development in the area and my family was not interested in a close quarters of a tract development ... I made the mistake of suggesting to the RE lady that maybe an available older, larger home might be what they had in mind. The first property she led us to was Astin Mansion which was empty at the time and on the market. Actually the price was quite reasonable but the thought of having to fill that house with furniture blew me away. We toured the place and while the rest of the family was playing a game of which member got which group of rooms I was mentally juggling the costs of hundreds of gallons of paint, electrical wiring, plumbing problems, etc., etc.,... I had to announce to all concerned that we could not afford that house if we got it free. But it was an amazing and fun break in our house-hunting routine. My decision was the right one, but we had fun over the years playing "what-if" we had bought that place.

I think the old building is at the corner of Simms and 26th St. It definitely looks like an old school. Symmetrical front, dark brick, playground in back. Go check it out and let us know the history behind it.