Texas State Started With One Building, Then LBJ Brought a Law Home

Texas State began with one building on a hill. The Legislature authorized Southwest Texas State Normal School in 1899 to prepare teachers. When classes opened in 1903, Old Main was the entire campus. It remained the school's only building until 1908, and its original metal roof did not become the familiar red-tile landmark until decades later.

Lyndon B. Johnson arrived as a student in 1927. He taught school during his college years, then graduated in 1930 with a history degree and a permanent teaching certificate. A statue on the Quad remembers him as a young student instead of the president he became.

Johnson returned to San Marcos on November 8, 1965, to sign the Higher Education Act on his old campus. The law expanded federal grants and loans for college students. Texas State remains the only university in Texas to have graduated a United States president or vice president.

Old Main still ties those chapters together. Its roof rises above the Quad, while the building now houses fine arts, communication, and journalism programs. The school changed names as its mission grew, but its first building and famous graduate still make its history visible on an ordinary walk across campus.