Howard Payne Makes Brownwood a College Town

Brownwood is not just a courthouse town or a lake town; it is a college town, too. Howard Payne College was founded at Indian Creek on June 29, 1889, by members of the Pecan Valley Baptist Association, Rev. Noah Turner Byars, and Dr. John David Robnett. They named it for Edward Howard Payne, an early benefactor tied to Robnett's family.

Classes began in 1890, and the school grew through the same hard seasons that shaped Brownwood. Daniel Baker College, a Presbyterian school in the city and founded in the same era, consolidated with Howard Payne in 1953. The college became Howard Payne University in October 1974.

That gives Brownwood a different feel from many rural county seats. The Yellow Jackets name dates to 1915, the Bell Towers were dedicated in 1978, and Newman's Academy of Freedom continues as the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy. Those details carry the school's story from games to campus landmarks to academics. Howard Payne keeps Brownwood tied to more than one generation of college memory.