San Antonio · Bexar County · Private · Official site
Texas campuses and the stories they hold.
About the campus
Trinity University was founded in 1869 by Cumberland Presbyterians in the tiny town of Tehuacana, moved to Waxahachie in 1902 and to San Antonio in 1942, and finally settled in 1952 on an abandoned limestone quarry north of downtown. Architect O'Neil Ford, working with Bartlett Cocke, turned that rugged site into a hillside village of red brick and exposed concrete, and in 2018 the campus was listed on the National Register as a historic district of mid-century modern design. This walk follows the campus from the top of the old quarry cliff down to the lower campus, taking in the bell tower, the chapel, the library and the arts buildings. Expect some stairs and a loop of about a mile.
About this site
Trinity University is a private college or university in San Antonio, Bexar County. It is one of 17 degree-granting colleges and universities TexasRoam maps in Bexar County.
The site sits at 29.4633, -98.4823 near San Antonio. The nearest cataloged historic site is Bushnell (historic place), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Alamo Portland and Roman Cement Company, Portland Cement Plants, and Chinese Sunken Garden Gate.
Trinity University was founded by Cumberland Presbyterians in 1869 in the Limestone County town of Tehuacana, combining three small church colleges weakened by the Civil War, which explains its Latin motto, "From Three, One"; former Texas congressman and senator John Boyd donated about 1,100 acres to launch it. Seeking a bigger community, the school moved to Waxahachie in 1902, but the Depression left it in debt and on accreditation probation by 1936. Rescue came in 1942 from San Antonio, whose civic leaders wanted to keep a Protestant college in town: Trinity absorbed the struggling Methodist-run University of San Antonio, inheriting its near-west-side Woodlawn grounds and its graduates, and for roughly ten years made do with barracks and Quonset huts there. The university bought an abandoned limestone quarry north of downtown in 1945 and hired architect O'Neil Ford to plan it, opening the present "Skyline Campus" in 1952. Under President James W. Laurie, gifts from the Chapman Trust paid for a modern campus of red-brick buildings, including the 166-foot Murchison Tower, whose design Ford later echoed in the Tower of the Americas. In 1969 Trinity became independent of direct church control while keeping historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Later presidents reshaped it into a residential, primarily undergraduate university, and in 2018 its Ford-designed core was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district. Today Trinity enrolls about 2,700 students and is known for its liberal arts programs, hilltop views of the San Antonio skyline, and Division III Tigers athletics.
See this site and every marker, cemetery, courthouse, museum and landmark across Texas on one live map — find what's near you, get directions, and check in as you roam.
