My grandfather class of '58 came to town this weekend. He comes about five to eight times a year to see the campus, and walk around. Anyway, as were walking around he pointed to where Buetell Health Center is, and said when he was in school the Presidents Home stood there.

Obviously, I am not old enought to know about this, he thought he could be wrong, but was quite certain that area is where the house once stood. He recalls sometime after he left it burned down?

Does anyone have any information on this? Is this something that can be looked up? Thanks for your help.

This is a home most of you never had a chance to see. This was the President's Home on campus. It was built in 1892 for President Lawrence Sullivan Ross and was considered to be a "grand mansion." The home served as the residence of all Presidents until it burned in 1963.



The home was located approximately 150 yards in back of the rear of the current All Faiths Chapel. I visited in the home twice during the administration of David Morgan. The home was truly elegant and the furniture was antique, many pieces dating back to the days of Sully and family.

Fossil, you truly are a wealth of knowledge! I have been following your insights on the historic photos thread. Keep it coming!



Trace Johannesen '00
"Life's a bowl of punch, go ahead and spike it!" -311

Tracer ... If you want to locate the exact spot of the old home, follow these directions:

This photo was taken between 1921 and 1930. The bottom edge of the photo is at West Gate where Old Main met Wellborn Road. Driving your Model A Ford onto campus on Main Drive, take the street angling off to the left and continue around the curve. Shortly after reaching the straightaway going east you will see the President's Mansion up ahead on your left. Many of the old buildings are now gone but Sbisa, the Academic Building and Guion Hall are there for reference. (The home is 1 3/4 inch down from the top of the photo and 1 5/8 inch from the left edge.)



Edit: The other homes you passed on the curve and the homes in the right bottom half of the photo were provided by the college to faculty and staff. Many of those houses were later bought by the occupants and moved across Jersey Street to the South Gate area.

Notice the Creamery Building just across the tracks and Wellborn Road from West Gate. And note the location of the College Station beside the tracks at West Gate.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/19/2007 4:13p).]

fossil_ag,

Would that be the home Sully Ross died in? That timeline you posted the other day mentioned "Lawrence Sullivan Ross died at his home in College Station". At least I think it did.

AgDotCom ...Yes, Sully died in that house. He was buried in Waco.

wow. that is very interesting. heck walking across campus with you, and to listen to you speak about things that use to be would be interesting.

so fire destroyed the old presidents mansion, and old main. crap, what caused these fires

Wasn't the Assembly Building removed to make space for Beutel?

Regarding the fires...look at all those damn chimneys! LOL. Back then, fireplaces and candles were used a lot...maybe that had something to do with it. Also everybody smoked indoors.

[This message has been edited by AggiePhil (edited 2/19/2007 7:26p).]

Beutel was new when I was a fish.... I was told by the upperclassmen at the time that Mitchell Hall had been razed to make way for the new "quack Shcak". Anyone know for sure?

That's right, it was Harvey Mitchell Hall.

Based on that photo, I would say that dorms reside where the president's home used to.

WhatNot and AggiePhil ... The fires that A&M suffered were devastating, but not as many as one would expect under the construction, heating and lighting circumstances of the times. The destructive fires on record are:

Mess Hall built in 1897 destroyed by fire 1911.

Old Main built in 1875 destroyed by fire 1912.

M E Shops built in 1892 destroyed by fire 1920.

President Home built 1892 destroyed fire 1963.

Board of Directors House built 1912 destroyed by fire 1979. (This was a frame house located behind Sbisa, across from Walton, in front of Hotard, used by Directors (Regents) as quarters when on campus before MSC was built.)

Regarding the fires: Fire in the M E Shops and in the Mess Hall is explainable because of the elevated exposure due to activity within. Fire in the President's home is cause unknown but probably related to fireplaces, wiring or other common household Hazards. The fire in the Board of Director's house was due to a workman leaving a worklight on and unattended while renovations were going on.

The Old Main fire was a disaster waiting to happen because of construction practices during that period ... and the college was extremely lucky not to have endured more of those in those earliest buildings.

Before 1909 buildings on campus were either all wood construction or, as in the larger buildings, a free-standing masonry shell enclosing an all timber and wood interior framework. Some building had electric power before 1900 but most lighting was by oil lamps or candles. Heating was either wood or coal burning fireplaces or cast iron "pot bellied" stoves. You can appreciate the fire danger inside those old buildings but some built in the 1890 were still in use in the 1950s. (Ross and Austin Halls.)

In 1909 the Civil Engineering Bulding (Nagle Hall) was the first building on campus constructed with reinforced concrete. The college architect at that time, F.E. Giesecke, traveled to various eastern colleges and to Germany to learn about reinforced concrete construction which was new technology ... and this knowledge was applied to all future A&M construction.

As for Assembly Hall, it was constructed in 1889 and demolished in 1929 to make room for Hart Hall. It did not burn.

fossil ag

Do you know where any other old photos of the old President's House are? Any interior photos surviving?

I found about a dozen pictures of the exterior of the Presidents House but none of the interior at the Archives website. The pic above is typical.

I found another dated January 26, 1963. The fire started on the second floor.



No firemen available?

In 1963 the fire department was still on campus and manned by members of the physical plant. Bryan FD may have assisted at this fire.

In 1969, the City of College Station took over the volunteer department at Texas A&M. The city hired one full-time firefighter . The majority of the fire fighting was still conducted by volunteers made up of staff and students from Texas A&M.

Firemen were on scene when the Board of Director's House burned in 1979 but had little chance of saving the structure. Those old frame houses burn fast.


This house sat directly across the street from Walton Hall. Hotard Hall was located behind it.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/19/2007 11:29p).]

Fossil, The campus photo should be between 21 and 27??? I don't see Law and Puryear and I seem to remember the cornerstone in Puryear said it was erected in 27.

BTW, keep em coming, great thread.

These photos are a treasure trove.

Fossil Ag:

I see where you said Sul Ross is buried in Waco. Is he buried at the historic cemetary off of I-35 by the Baylor Campus? Or, is his burial at another cemetary?

Good article in the December '97 issue of the Texas Aggie.

http://libraryasp.tamu.edu/cushing/collectn/univarch/texag/articles/97/december.html

Birddog .... The aerial views of the campus are grouped in 10 year increments on the Archives website ... in the case of the view above 1921-1930. To pin the date closer one has to do as you did in searching for Law and Puryear ... look for nearby structures with known dates.

In my book Law and Puryear are listed as built in 1928 (so we know the pic was made before that.) Then notice in about the future location of Law and Puryear and you see five rows of structures parallel to Main Drive ... and a large white building adjoining the five rows on the north. The structures in the rows are 165 one room huts (33 per row) of temporary cadet quarters. They were built incrementally from 1923 to 1927. That temporary housing area was labeled "Hollywood" by the cadets.

The large structure adjoining was the "new" Assembly Hall built in 1923. So we have the pic dated 1923-27. A bit more sleuthing and we might get the date closer ... but I am satisfied to date the photo 1927. (You can appreciate the time and effort that would be required of Archives folks if they chose to date each undated photo that came their way.) Besides, that is half the fun for us amateurs who like to dig around in those remnants of history.

WHATNOT1980 .... Somewhere I ran across the name of the cemetery in Waco where LSR is buried but I can't find it now. I will post it when I find it.

Over the years I have read many of David Chapman's articles in the Texas Aggie giving the history of the older buildings, events and traditions. Each one has been treasure of information ... I hope someday they become a book.



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 2/20/2007 9:32a).]

fossil_ag: Your wealth of information posted in this thread as well as the other photo thread is incredible! I have really enjoyed learning all of this stuff that I'm sure I wouldn't have otherwise. Thanks!

Found Sul Ross's grave here. Kind of a weird site, but this is what google pulled up.


http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6065

If you think that site is strange, try looking at http://www.findadeath.com

quote:

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Beutel was new when I was a fish.... I was told by the upperclassmen at the time that Mitchell Hall had been razed to make way for the new "quack Shcak". Anyone know for sure?

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quote:

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That's right, it was Harvey Mitchell Hall.

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My dad lived in Mitchell from fall '67 through spring '69. (He then transferred to t.u.—"because there weren't enough women at A&M," he claims, and I believe him—but I can't hold it against him because he met my mother at t.u.) He's said he thinks Mitchell was basically identical to Leggett, but his memory's not great.

He told me about a couple of his favorite pranks to pull on neighbors: One was to use an ice pick to punch holes in a can of shaving cream, covering each hole with a finger; then walk down the hall, find an unlocked door, open it, toss in the can, and shut the door. The other, occurring only slightly less often, was to remove the liner from a 30-gallon trash can in the hallway, fill the can almost to the top with water, lean it against someone's door, and knock—as soon as they turned the knob, the 100+ lbs. of water would force the door open and flood the room.

Milner, Legett and Mitchell Halls were built in 1911-12. Mitchell was demolished in 1972 to make way for Beutel Health Center in 1973. The picture below shows Mitchell to the left of the YMCA ... and the spot where Beutel can now be found.