The story
Origins in Fort Worth, 1869–1873
The East Texas brothers Addison and Randolph Clark, with the support of their father Joseph A. Clark, first founded Texas Christian University. The Clarks were scholar-preacher/teachers associated with the Restoration Movement. These early leaders of the Restoration Movement were the spiritual ancestors of the modern Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ, as well as being major proponents of education.
Upon their return from service in the Confederacy during the Civil War, brothers Addison and Randolph embarked on a mission to establish a children's preparatory school in Fort Worth. This educational institution, known as the Male & Female Seminary of Fort Worth, was in operation from 1869 to 1874. The Clarks shared a collective vision of creating a higher education institution that would embody Christian values while maintaining a non-sectarian and intellectually open-minded spirit. To realize this vision, they procured five city blocks in downtown Fort Worth in 1869.
But from 1867 to 1874, the character of Fort Worth changed substantially due to the commercial influence of the Chisholm Trail, the principal route for moving Texas cattle to the Kansas rail heads. An influx of cattle, men, and money transformed the sleepy frontier village. The area around the property purchased by the Clarks for their college soon housed stretch of saloons, gambling halls, dance parlors, and brothels. By 1872, it had acquired it the nickname of "Hell's Half Acre". The Clarks found an alternative site for their college at Thorp Spring, a small community 40 miles (60 km) in Hood County to the southwest near the frontier of Comanche and Kiowa territory.
Move to Thorp Spring, 1873–1895
In 1873 the Clark brothers moved South to Thorp Spring and founded Add-Ran Male & Female College. TCU recognizes 1873 as its founding year, as it continues to preserve the original college through the AddRan College of Liberal Arts.
Add-Ran College was one of the first coeducational institutions of higher education west of the Mississippi River. The college expanded quickly from its first enrollment in fall 1873 of 13 students. Shortly thereafter, annual enrollment ranged from 200 to 400. At one time more than 100 counties of Texas were represented in the student body. The Clark brothers also recruited prestigious professors from all over the South to join them at Thorp Spring.
In 1889 Add-Ran College formed an official partnership with what would become the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), though the church never enjoyed any administrative role at TCU. In 1889 the school was renamed Add-Ran Christian University.
Move to Waco, roots of rivalry, 1895–1910
The need for a larger population and transportation base prompted the university to relocate to Waco from 1895 to 1910; it purchased the campus of the defunct Waco Female College. The institution was renamed Texas Christian University in 1902, often called TCU. It was during this 15-year sojourn in Waco that TCU in 1896 entered the ranks of intercollegiate football and adopted its school colors of purple and white, as well as its distinctive Horned Frog mascot. A rivalry developed between TCU and nearby Baylor University.
Return to Fort Worth, 1910–present
In 1910, a fire of unknown origin destroyed the university's Main Administration building. A rebuilding project was planned, but before reconstruction could begin, a group of enterprising Fort Worth businessmen offered the university $200,000 in rebuilding money ($6,614,210 in 2024) and a 50-acre (200,000 m2) campus as an inducement to return to Fort Worth.
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The TCU campus in Fort Worth in 1910–11 consisted of four buildings: Clark Hall and Goode Hall, the men's dormitories; Jarvis Hall, the women's dormitory; and the Main Administration building (now Reed Hall).
The university received its first charitable endowment in 1923, from Mary Couts Burnett, the recent widow of Samuel Burk Burnett, a rancher, banker, and oilman. Burnett received half of her late husband's estate of $6 million ($110 million in 2024), and in her 1923 will she bequeathed her entire estate, including a half-interest in the substantial 6666 ("Four Sixes") Ranch, to TCU. Mary Couts Burnett Library is named after her. In 1948, the Ed Landreth Hall and Auditorium was built.
John Lord was a native of Deer Island, New Brunswick who became dean of Texas Christian University but was murdered by 18-year old Arthur Clayton Hester.
From Wikipedia’s article on Texas Christian University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5