Shared
Legacy
Shared
Legacy
Celebrating 150 years in Texoma
By Laura J. Veach
Amid a flurry of growth and development in the Texoma area’s population, industry, and infrastructure, in 2026, Austin College celebrates 150 years* of calling the region home. Following a devastating yellow fever epidemic in Huntsville, Texas, the College moved operations to Sherman in 1876—the year the telephone was invented and the United States celebrated its centennial. Since then, local industries have varied as widely as the areas of study at Austin College and the region itself has continually transformed, but the symbiotic relationship between college and community endures.
The following pages present a timeline of major industrial and educational events in Texoma and significant changes to the Austin College campus.
*Not to be confused with the 2024 commemoration of 175 years since Austin College was founded in 1849.
— 1845: Texas annexed into the Union
— 1846: Sherman, Texas, founded • Population: about 400
— 1849: Austin College founded in Huntsville, Texas
— First schoolhouse—a log cabin with a dirt floor—built in Sherman
— 1858: Sherman, Texas, incorporated
— Butterfield Overland Mail Line establishes a stagecoach mail station in Sherman
— 1861: Outbreak of the Civil War causes Austin College to pause college-level classes and temporarily function as a preparatory school
— 1867: Huntsville, Texas, experiences a yellow fever epidemic, killing 10% of the population
— 1870: First official census in Sherman • Population: 1,439
— 1872: Denison, Texas, founded
— First locomotive arrives in Denison on Christmas Eve
— 1873: Denison, Texas, incorporated • Population: about 3,000
— First free public school in Texas established in Denison
— North Texas Female College established in Sherman
— 1870s: Sherman is one of several fast-growing cities to be nicknamed “The Athens of Texas” due to its educational boom
— 1873-1877: Two million buffalo hides processed and sold by Metz Brothers Leather Goods in Sherman
— 1876: Austin College moves to Sherman, Texas
— Washington Iron Works—now the oldest industrial establishment in Sherman— opens, mostly manufacturing wagon wheels
— 1877: Sherman Female Institute established in Sherman
— 1879: Austin College resumes college-level courses
— 1880: Sherman population: 6,093 • Denison population: 3,975
— 1882: Sam Houston Bell moved to Sherman from original Austin College building in Huntsville
— 1883: Sherman ISD established
— 1885: Thompson House (now Temple Center) built
— 1887: Austin College adopts a military program
— Travis Street is the first street in Sherman illuminated with electric lights
— 1893: Pioneer Cotton Seed Oil Mill operates at peak capacity of over 400 tons of cottonseed daily
— 1894: Carr-Burdette College established in Sherman
— 1896: The Great Sherman Storm of 1896
— 1897: Austin College military program ceased
— 1900: Sherman population: 10,243 • Denison population: 11,807
— 1901: Sherman Female Institute closes for the final time under its then-current name of Mary Nash College
— 1907: Coca-Cola Sherman Bottling Co. opens
— 1907-1908: Luckett Hall built
— 1911: YMCA Building completed
— Katy Depot built in Denison to support the burgeoning local railroad industry
— 1913: Old Main burns to the ground
— First Denison High School built
— Mrs. Tucker’s Foods, a shortening, margarine, and salad oil company, opens in Sherman
— 1914: Thompson Hall built
— Wilson N. Jones Hospital (now AHS Sherman Medical Center) built
— 1915: Sherman Hall built
— 1916: Three women are allowed to earn summer course credits and Mary Bell Jones of Sherman is enrolled as a “special student” for the fall term
— 1918: Women are fully welcomed as students beginning with the fall term
— 1919: 12 live oak trees planted between Baker and Dean Halls to memorialize the 12 Austin College students who lost their lives in WWI
— 1920: Sherman population: 15,031 • Denison population: 17,065
— 1924: Kappa Fountain built
— 1925: Caruth Administration Building construction
begins
— Sherman Little Theater assembled
— 1929: Carr-Burdette College closes
— 1930s: Austin College survives the Great Depression by taking alternative means of tuition payment—in some cases, produce and livestock
— 1935: North Texas Female College closes for the final time under its then-current name of Kidd-Key College and Conservatory
— 1938: Construction of Denison Dam and Lake Texoma is authorized
— 1940: Sherman population: 17,156 • Denison population: 15,581
— 1941: Perrin Field opens
— 1943: WWII: Campus avails itself as a training facility for the Texas Home Guard, Naval Reserve, and the 77th Flight Army Air Training Corps
— 1944: Construction of Denison Dam and Lake Texoma completed
— 1947: Caruth Administration Building construction completed
— 1949: Coffin Hall built
— 1950: Sherman Little Theater incorporates as the Sherman Community Players
— 1951: Adams Center built
— Student Union Building built
— 1952: Mrs. Tucker’s Foods merges with Anderson Clayton & Co.
— 1955-1975: Students hold peaceful protests against the Vietnam War. A roll of students called to serve was not kept due to the conflict’s unpopularity
— 1957: Clyce Hall and Baker Hall built
— College Street closed to traffic from Grand Avenue to the Student Union Building (now the College Green)
— IBM opens the Sherman Card Plant
— Last passenger train departs Katy Depot
— 1958: Wynne Chapel built
— 1960: Hopkins Center built
— Sherman population: 24,988 • Denison population: 22,748
— 1961: Pierre Shamba from The Congo becomes the first Black student admitted to Austin College
— Johnson & Johnson opens a surgical dressings plant
in Sherman
— 1962: Craig Hall built
— 1963: Caruth Residence Hall built
— 1964: YMCA Building razed
— 1965: Moody Center built
— Dean Hall built
— Kappa Fountain moved and rebuilt
— Texas Instruments opens Sherman facility
— 1966: Sherman Symphony Orchestra founded
— 1968: First JanTerm courses held
— Sherman becomes a key distribution center for Dr Pepper and 7-Up
— 1970: Sher-Den Mall opens
— 1972: Ida Green Communication Center opens
— 1973: Inaugural season of women’s athletics
— 1974: Windsor Mall created by closing off remaining section of College Street running through campus
— 1976: Fisher Controls (later bought by Emerson) opens Sherman manufacturing facility
— 1979: Folgers Coffee opens Sherman facility
— 1980: Quest sculpture installed in the new Zauk Circle
— Wortham Center completed
— Sherman population: 30,413 • Denison population: 23,884
— 1981: Douglass Distributing formed
— Grand Avenue Overpass opens
— 1983: Lake Campus dedicated
— 1986: Abell Library built
— Solstice Calendar installed
— Midway Mall in Sherman opens
— 1987: Anderson Clayton & Co., formerly Mrs. Tucker’s Foods, is purchased by The Kraft Company
— 1998: Coffin Hall razed
— 1999: Jordan Family Language House completed
— 2000: Apple Stadium built
— Wright Campus Center completed
— Sherman population: 35,082 • Denison population: 22,773
— 2001: Mason Complex created
— Student Union Building razed
— 2002: Jackson Technology Center completed
— 2004: Luckett Hall razed
— Sherman Town Center completed
— 2007: Clyde L. Hall Graduation Court created
— 2013: IDEA Center opens for classes
— 2020s: Texoma earns the nickname “the Silicon Prairie” due to local investments in high-tech industry
— 2020: Sherman population: 45,136 • Denison population: 25,792
— 2023: Austin College Health Campus in Denison dedicated
— 2024: Austin College Physician Assistant Program welcomes first students
— Austin College Bachelor of Science in Engineering program developed in cooperation with local industry
— First evening home game played under new stadium lights in Apple Stadium
— Sherman population: 50,229 • Denison population: 26,446
— 2025: Quest relocated near Abell Library; Austin College shield placed in Zauk Circle