Now it's just a ruin
With statue, markers, and all
But in the whispering of the breeze
Can you hear history's call?
Salado itself is a monument to historical Texas. True, trendy shops and cutsie venues occupy the historical structures, but at least they're preserved. On a hill on the south side of town you will find the ruins of Salado College and Thomas Arnold High School. An iron gate rising from limestone block piers states the name of the college, and there is copious signage about. As well as a statue of E.S.C. Robertson, who had quite a history himself....
Metal plaque re: Salado College
Salado College Plaque -- set on gate:
Site of Salado College
Founded 1856 with a gift
by
Col. E.S.C. Robertson
of 100 acres of land
The "Athens of Texas" from
1856 to 1884
This marker rests
on ground where the
College Building stood
Erected by
The Betty Martin Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
Temple, Texas
June 14, 1935
Sculpture dedication
ELIJAH STERLING CLACK ROBERTSON
Colonel, Army of the Republic of Texas
Postmaster General, Republic of Texas
Brigadier General, Republic of Texas Militia
Captain, Confederate States of America
Texas Ranger
Chief Justice, Bell County Court
Founder of Salado & Salado College
Royal Arch Mason (Knight Templar)
* * * * *
Donated by Alice Robertson
Sneed West Foundation,
Kenneth H. Burns, President; and
Robertson Colony-Salado College Foundation;
Judge Byron Skelton, Past President,
Jim D. Bowmer, President,
Kenneth H. Burns, Vice-President, and
Mrs. Sterling C. Robertson,
Secretary-Treasurer.
Sculpture
by
H. Clay Dahlberg
And the Historical Marker:
Marker Number: 5464
Texas Historical Commission
* * *
SITE OF
THOMAS ARNOLD HIGH SCHOOL
Dr. Samuel J. Jones (1857-1918) and his wife, Charlotte Hallaran Jones (d. 1904), established Thomas Arnold High School on this site in 1890. The school, which was actually a private academy, occupied the stone buildings vacated by Salado College, where Dr. Jones taught. Named for Thomas Arnold (1795-1842), noted headmaster of Rugby School in England, the academy provided quality education during a time when there were few public high schools. After it closed in 1913, the facilities were again operated as Salado College until 1918, and as a public school until 1924, when the buildings burned.
(1975)
Further reading (of course, you could just click through to the wikipedia article)
Salado Historical Society (
visit link)
We will be discussing the era that begins with the founding of the Village of Salado and Salado College in 1859 which was some 14 years after Texas became part of the United States. The Post Office had been established here in 1852, one of only 3 in Bell County. Salado was a stop on the stage line from Waco to Austin. At the time of the creation of Salado, Belton was the county seat just as it is now.
Temple, our larger neighbor to the north, did not exist until the Santa Fe Railroad came through in 1880. Salado was founded before the Civil War and survived that terrible episode in American history as well as the reconstruction that followed. It was very important as a center for education and the agricultural industry that utilized the 8 mills on Salado Creek.
At the time of the opening of Salado College in 1860, Austin was a town of about 3500 people, and Dallas was the "booming metropolis" of 678 after receiving its town charter 4 years earlier in 1856. Baylor and Southwestern Universities had been chartered by the Republic of Texas in the 1840's, but there was no college worthy of the name in this part of Texas (both were located further east in Texas at that time - not where they are now). Salado was on the Frontier of Texas, and Salado College filled a vital need in educating the children and young people of Texas.
Quoting Texas Escapes: From Patty Hearst to Salado "Salado: Frontier College Town" by Charles Turnbo (
visit link)
Salado College, like the Village [of Salado Texas], was always a little contrary to ordinary. At a time when most colleges had a church affiliation, Salado College's articles of association forbade it from becoming sectarian nor would "the peculiar doctrines of any religious denominations be taught therein."
The college was the first to operate without church or state funds and it admitted women at a time when most educated young females were sent off to finishing school. The state's first female governor, Miriam A. Ferguson, was educated at Salado College. Because of its fiercely independent nature, the college always had financial difficulties.
"Salado College was always one day away from bankruptcy," Turnbo said.
Liz Carpenter, former press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson and an esteemed author in her own right, wrote in her introduction to the book, "I thought I knew everything about Salado, the village where I was born, visit often, write about frequently and have loved for 85 years of life. But Charles Turnbo's delightful and thorough book gave me my come-uppance." The book brings Turnbo a long way from the people and places he dealt with when he worked for the prison system. It's a long way from Col. Elijah S.C. Robertson to Patty Hearst.
----
I should imagine! but that digresses....