Samuel Huston College

According to the Texas State Historical Society Samuel Huston College, was a coeducational school for blacks in Austin, Texas. The idea for the college developed from a plan developed in 1876 by the Methodist Episcopal conference. In 1883 an agreement with the Freedmen's Aid Society resulted in the purchase of a six-acre plot on which the college was built. A gift of $9,000 was received from Samuel Huston of Marengo, Iowa, for whom the institution was named. However, it wasn't until 1900 that the college held its first classes. Then On October 24, 1952, Samuel Huston College merged with Tillotson College to form Huston-Tillotson College.

photo by Kevin Surbaugh

Inscription:
Samuel Huston College traces its history to 1876 when the Rev. George W. Richardson founded a college in Dallas for the education of African American youth. St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church was leased for the private school, named Andrews Normal School.

The school moved to Austin in 1878 and held classes in the Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. The west Texas conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with the help of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, adopted Andews Normal School in 1878 and the name was changed to West Texas Conference School. Nearly six acres were acquired on East 12th Street in 1880 for the original campus. The school was renamed in 1887 in honor of Samuel Huston of Morengo, Iowa, who donated property worth $10,000. Funding difficulties caused the school to close several times in the 1880s. It reopened in 1900 at the same site.

Organized as a private educational corporation in 1910, it became a senior college in 1926, and merged with Tillotson College in 1952. Relocated to the Tillotson College campus on Chicon Street, the school was renamed Huston-Tillotson College. It continues a distinguished history of education.

Erected:
1996

photo by Kevin Surbaugh

Location:
Marker is at the intersection of Interstate 35 Frontage Road and East 12th Street, on the right when traveling north on Interstate 35. Address on the shopping center behind the sign is 1109 N I. H. 35 Austin, TX 78702



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