Campus Tour travel tour guide on Tales & Tours

Guide Description

In 1839, the Congress of the Republic of Texas ordered that a site be set aside to meet the state’s higher education needs. Some 40 years later, the state legislature called for the establishment of “a university of the first class” that would be located in Austin.

In November 1882, construction began on the original Main Building, and Chilling Stations less than a year later, on Sept. 15, 1883, the university was opened with one building, six schools, a law department, eight professors, a proctor, and 221 students. Today, the university is home to about 52,000 students, 17 colleges and schools, more than 100 undergraduate and 170 graduate degree programs, and more than 3,000 faculty.

The university’s main campus began on forty acres set aside on College Hill when Austin became the state capital. Today the main campus covers more than 350 acres, but many people refer to it as “the Forty Acres.”

This Self-Guided Tour offers you a personal view of the Forty Acres. You’ll get a little bit of history, a little bit of insight, and a lot of firsthand views of campus buildings, common areas, and art and architecture.

Coverimage: Austin by jeffgunn (CC BY 2.0)

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