{"nrhp_refnum":"83004505","name":"Main Building, Southwest Texas Normal School","other_names":["Old Main,Southwest Texas State University"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Old Main St., Southwest Texas State University campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Marcos","county":"Hays County","state":"TX","lat":29.88940691600004,"lon":-97.93896738399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Old Main, a two-and-a-half-story buff brick Victorian Gothic building on Chautauqua Hill at the Southwest Texas State University campus in San Marcos, Hays County, Texas. It was built in 1902-03 as the first building of the Southwest Texas Normal School.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the state's finest buildings, notable for its Victorian Gothic design, with steep gables, arched windows, dormers, roof finials and four pyramidally roofed corner towers. It also marks the beginning of the teachers' college that grew into Southwest Texas State University, and its hilltop setting makes its outline visible for miles.","narrative":"Old Main is a two-and-a-half-story buff brick building in the Victorian Gothic style, set on Chautauqua Hill in San Marcos, Texas. Designed by local architect Edward Northcraft and built in 1902-03 by contractors Francis Fisher and R.C. Lambie, it was the first building of the Southwest Texas Normal School, a teachers' college created by the legislature in 1899 on land the city had given. Its profile is defined by four pyramidally roofed corner towers, a hipped main roof, limestone arched windows, and detailed brick stringcourses and corbelling. The school opened in 1903 with 17 faculty and 303 students and later became Southwest Texas State University, counting Lyndon B. Johnson among its graduates. Some windows have been bricked in, and interior ceilings and woodwork have been altered, but the main stairs remain important features. The building still serves the university, and a restoration plan was under development.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Edward Northcraft, architect; Francis Fisher and R.C. Lambie, contractors","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in educational use, housing the ROTC and Journalism Departments; condition described as good and altered, with a major restoration planned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.23254-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/9695/40969549/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/83004505.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004505/e5d50d95f1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004505/e5d50d95f1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Trainerboblol","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oldmainfromalkekb.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Trainerboblol</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oldmainfromalkekb.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969549","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Main_(Texas_State_University)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084432"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hays-county/main-building-southwest-texas-normal-school-83004505/"}