Tarleton State University

The origins of Tarleton State University can be traced to 1895, when prominent businessman and philanthropist John Tarleton provided an endowment in his will to establish a college in Erath County. On March 12, 1896, an ex-officio board of trustees composed of the governor, state superintendent of public instruction, and the Erath County judge purchased the property of the former Stephenville College, which operated from 1893 to 1895 and closed due to financial difficulties. On March 12, 1896, trustees appointed Marshall McIlhany as principal of The John Tarleton College; to open the college in September; and serve as president in 1897. The appointment expired in the spring of 1898 and the trustees disagreed on the subsequent leadership. Classes were suspended for the 1898-1899 academic year, but resumed for the 1899-1900 school year under President William H. Bruce. For a short time senior college work was offered, but the school later reverted to junior status with two years of high school work and two years of college work in liberal arts. Like similar schools of that period, John Tarleton College was faced with inadequate financing, and in 1916, when a movement in the legislature to establish a West Texas agricultural and mechanical college became apparent, citizens of the community and the trustees of the college offered the properties of the college to the state as a nucleus for the new school. The Thirty-fifth Legislature accepted and on February 20, 1917, passed a bill establishing a branch of Texas A&M College at Stephenville to be named John Tarleton Agricultural College. The school continued to offer a two-year degree, the preparatory program, and specialized study in agriculture, home economics, and military training. Citizens of Erath County raised $50,000 to purchase a 500-acre farm and additional acreage for the campus and $75,000 to become a permanent loan fund for worthy students. These assets were added to the existing property of the college and conveyed to the state. In 1926 the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredited John Tarleton College as a junior college. After that the school reverted to a focus on the liberal arts. In 1949 the name was changed to Tarleton State College, and in 1953 the preparatory department closed, since access to public education had improved in the region.

During the first twenty-six years of its operation as a state institution the college widened its curricula to include fourteen courses of study and served 12,000 students. The college property in 1943 had an inventory value of $2,000,000 and consisted of a forty-acre campus, sixteen brick buildings, a 700-acre college farm, and a twenty-four-acre poultry project. One of the outstanding contributions of the college was the excellent course in military science and tactics, conducted by the college since 1921, when a unit of the Reserve Officers Training Corps was established. In 1943, 2,500 men trained at Tarleton were serving in the armed forces of the United States, and the college cooperated with the United States Army in the housing, maintenance, and instruction of 500 Army Specialized Training Program trainees. During this period affairs of the college were administered by the board of directors of Texas A&M. Active administration was delegated by the board to a local dean. James F. Cox, president of the old John Tarleton College, was dean for two years. Upon his resignation, J. Thomas Davis became dean. E. J. Howell was president of the school in 1949.