South Texas Baptist College

An ambitious institution chartered by Baptists who formed South Texas Educational Conference about 1895 and in 1898 secured campus site from a local landowner, C.C. Waller. Trustees serving when college opened in fall of 1898 were J.C. McGaughy, Hempsted; James F. Duncan, Houston; C.W. Matthews, Montgomery; W.J. Durham, Richmond; S.A. McCall, Willis; J.E. Boulet, E.J. Matthews, J.L. Miles, and J.T. Sanders of Waller. W.E. Clark, A.M. Georgetown College of Kentucky, was president; Matilda Shannon (Mrs. W.E.) Clark, the college matron; misses Annie Black and Bellie James, Teachers; Thomas Shannon, secretary. The first session opened with three students, closed with 33; Second opened with 15, closed with 102. Courses of study covered primary through college subjects; Tuition ranged form $10 to $20 a term. The third session opened on Monday, Sept. 3, 1900. On the night of Sept. 8-9, the great 1900 storm blew in from Galveston. It severely damaged the college building, wrecked several churches, and demolished the public school. Although no lives were lost in this town, damage throughout the section was so great that the college never reopened. Its campus has served since 1916 as a public school site.

South Texas Baptist College is a historical marker in Waller, Waller County. It is one of 52 historical markers documented in Waller County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 135 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.0624, -95.9258 near Waller. The nearest cataloged historic site is First United Methodist Church of Waller (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Waller, St. Mary's Catholic Church and Cemetery, and St. Martin de Porres Catholic.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5473008119. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.