The main building of the Old Nacogdoches University is a temple form edifice built in 1858-1859. The Greek Revival style two-story brick structure is three bays wide and six bays long, excluding the portico, and is beautifully detailed and proportioned. The massing of the common bond, red brick two-story block is very close to double cube and the strong Tuscan detailing is academically correct. Stylistically the structure shows a strong relationship to Jeffersonian classicism. In size and detail, the building is similar to several rural Jeffersonian influenced Virginia courthouses built in the Piedmont region during the first decades of the nineteenth century.

The south or principal elevation is divided into three bays by Our Tuscan columns on plinth blocks. The columns have skillfully handled capitals with abacus and echinus. The entasis, however, is overbold and the columns look somewhat bulbous. The broad entablature has a large bed mold with a very narrow cornice forming the base of the pediment. The pediment has a deeply recessed field with the design of the entablature repeated under the slope of the roof. A large bed mold forms the transition to the cornice which is nearly covered by a bold crown mold in the form ofa cyma recta.

The main entrance has double, solid paneled entrance doors with a tall transom and side lights. Above the doorway, on the second floor, is a simple Palladian window. The bays on each side of the entranceway have single, four- over-four light windows with wooden lintels on both the first and second floor. The east and west elevations are divided into six bays by brick pilasters with finely molded capitals. There are single, all, narrow windows on both the upper and lower level between the pilasters, that repeat the glazing of the single windows on the south elevation. There is also a secondary entrance on each of these elevations. The north or rear elevation is a plain, undecorated facade, without entablature or cornice. The brick wall extends into the gable and is relieved only by four regularly spaced single windows on the second floor. A onestory twentieth century addition has been constructed at the rear of the building. The gabled roof of the old University Building is topped with an octagonal frame bell tower with an entablature and cornice complimenting that of the main structure. The fine ogee-cured roof is topped with a carved wooden pineapple. The Old University Building was restored in the 1960s and is open to the public as a museum.

Statement of significance

Nacogdoches University, probably the first nonsecretarian institution of higher learning in Texas, was chartered on February 3, 1845. Its charter provided that "no religious, sectarian tenets or doctrines shall be inculcated in the course of instruction, and that the institution shall be equally open to the education of persons of all classes, without regard to their religious beliefs."

The University received an initial endowment of 29,712 acres of land and $2,699.74 in personal property and was first housed in the "Red House," former officer's quarters of the Mexican Twelfth Permanent Battalion. In 1852 the Temperance Hall was purchased to serve as the university building. Shortly thereafter, Washington Square was bought and in 1858 a brick building was erected.

Except for brief periods, the university remained in operation until 1895. During the Civil War the buildings were used for a hospital and quarters for Confederate soldiers and during Reconstruction, the building served as headquarters for a federal regiment.

When the original charter expired in 1870, the Catholic Church took over the management of the university until the charter was renewed on February 11,1873. In 1875, Milam Lodge No.2 of the Masonic Order assumed control. In 1887 the property was leased to Keachi College. In 1889 the name Keachi was dropped and that of Nacogdoches University was resumed.

When the second charter of the university expired in 1895, it was apparent that instruction could no longer be maintained on the u, university level, and in 1904 the property was deeded to the Nacogdoches Independent School District. Of the original Old Nacogdoches University buildings, only the main building remains. Although still in a fair state of repair, this building was restored for use by the Nacogdoches Independent School District as a library and museum in the 1960's.

Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1962.

[From the Texas Historical Commission's Database, Reference 71000956]