Hardin-Simmons was organized in 1891 as Abilene Baptist College by West Texas cattlemen, preachers, and the Sweetwater Baptist Association, and it later took the names of two benefactors, New York pastor James B. Simmons and John G. Hardin. Few campuses lean into their Western roots so happily: its Cowboy Band has played since 1923, the Six White Horses lead its parades, and a legendary campus dog still has a memorial. This walk circles the central lawn from the historic marker and Abilene Hall to the 1922 music building, the pond where the school's quirkier traditions live, and the chapel of the Logsdon School of Theology.
About this site
Hardin-Simmons University is a private college or university in Abilene, Taylor County. It is one of 3 degree-granting colleges and universities TexasRoam maps in Taylor County.
The site sits at 32.4777, -99.7341 near Abilene. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hardin-Simmons University (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Caldwell Hall, Higginbotham, J. G., House, and Fritz, David C. and Docia, House.
Hardin-Simmons began in 1891 as Abilene Baptist College, organized by the Sweetwater Baptist Association together with a group of West Texas ranchers and pastors on land given by rancher C. W. Merchant. A year later it was renamed Simmons College for James B. Simmons, a Baptist minister whose gift paid for its first building. Open to both men and women from the outset, the young school spent its early years teaching mostly high-school-level students; it was only during Oscar Henry Cooper's presidency (1902–1909) that the curriculum was lengthened enough to confer bachelor's degrees. It became Simmons University in 1925, and in 1934 took the name Hardin-Simmons University to honor benefactors John G. and Mary Hardin. The Baptist General Convention of Texas has governed the school since 1940. Its western identity shows in the Cowboy Band, formed shortly after World War I and now well past its centennial, and in the Six White Horses equestrian program, as well as in teams known as the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Today it is a small Baptist university in Abilene with a historic brick core that includes Sandefer Memorial and the Caldwell Fine Arts Building.
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