Mayer and Schmidt: At the time SFA opened in 1923, the Mayer & Schmidt Company was one of the most important in East Texas. Ladies Vanities and purses were on sale for 95¢ to 3.95 in 1924; their ad copy, "Where you will always find up-to-date merchandise and popular prices." The old department store burned in 1906 and was rebuilt about 1909. It fell into trouble in the Depression and was discontinued; the present Schmidt's company is owned by members of the same Schmidt family, however.

Mahdeen Hair Tonic Original Label and Bottle: The original label on the small bottle was described by Ruth Fouts Pochmann in a letter to Victor Fain: "During the early years, the bottle wore an attractive label sporting the photograph of a pretty girl with long dark hair. The girl was Banita Casely, daughter of the photographer, whose studio was on the west side of the Square. . . . For reasons unknown to me, the label of the Mahdeen bottle was changed after Mr. Aikman came into the firm."

Mahdeen Hair Tonic New Label: The new label, changed after 1913 when Aikman joined the firm. It was money made from the sale of Mahdeen Hair Tonic which built the first gymnasium at SFA.

Frank S. Aikman: Frank S. Aikman was SFA's first great benefactor. Aikman, a native of Brooklyn, New York, came to Nacogdoches in 1913 and started the successful Mahdeen Hair Tonic Company with Mr. Conrad Needham. Aikman's original gift of $12,000 in 1924 for a gymnasium was followed in subsequent years by additional donations for a total of $25,000. These were "princely" sums, as Birdwell stated. More on Aikman.

Boarding House . The boarding houses just north of the campus on streets like Wettermark were added as the campus opened in 1924. Many of these still exist and are used as appartment houses today.

1924 Baseball Team . The 1924 baseball team, shown above, was more successful in their season than football, winning eight of fifteen games. Only ten men, however, ever suited up for baseball. Of these ten men, six had never participated in college baseball competition, and the other four were new to the game. Coach Bob Shelton is on the left and Coach W. W. Dorsey on the right.

Coach Bob Shelton: Coach Bob Shelton, called "The father of SFA athletics" is shown here with the 1923 Lumberjack football team. The 1924 yearbook said of Coach Shelton, "He's not very big, and he doesn't say much, but how he can instill that old fighting spirit into the boys! They'll fight for the school and for the coach, too." Shelton had less than two weeks to train a group of men to play football. They lost their first game, against the "Bobcats" in San Marcos, 47 to 7. W.W. Doesey, who joined SFA that first season as Shelton's assistant, said: "Some of those boys had never played football in their lives, but believe me, they learned. And they learned pretty fair football for that day."

Sarah Richardson House . The Sarah Richardson House, on the corner of Church and Arnold, was the scene for the first singing of "The Pine Tree Hymn" by Karle Wilson Baker. The house, designed by D. Rulfs before the turn of the century, was once two stories with gingerbread, gables, and large porches, not unlike the Jones House down the street or the Judge Blount House on Mound Street. After the house burned in 1915, the second story was removed, and the columned porches as seen above were added. Mary and Eugene Sanders, both students at SFA when it opened, owned and restored the house in the 1960s. The house is now owned by J. R.and Jill (Muckleroy) Ornelas who have recently restored the house once again.

Aikman Gym - 1924: Aikman Gym was the most used building on SFA's campus. Besides physical education classes and games, open house was held every Saturday night in the early years, and regular dances were held there for decades. This photo of a costume dance at Aikman Gym comes from the 1932 Stone Fort. More on Aikman Gym.

"Basketball Girls" in 1924: The "Basketball Girls," as the 1924 Stone Fort called them, were coached by Miss Virginia Broadfoot, Head of the Physical Education Department for Women. The annual said she was very anxious "to possess a gymnasium all her own (no reflections on the basement of the Baptist church)" where the girls had been meeting in 1923-24.