UT Arlington traces its roots to a small private school that opened on this ground in 1895, followed by a military academy and a training school. In 1917 it became Grubbs Vocational College, a junior-college branch of Texas A&M, and later North Texas Agricultural College and Arlington State College before joining the UT System in 1965. This walk starts at the university's historical marker and its oldest surviving building, passes a theater where Louis Armstrong opened the season in 1965, climbs to a major Texas map collection, and ends at a small cemetery tied to a remarkable early-1900s rescue home.
Few Texas universities have a family tree as tangled as UT Arlington's. A private school opened on this ground in 1895, followed by a military academy and a training school, and in 1917 the state turned the campus into Grubbs Vocational College. It later became North Texas Agricultural College and then Arlington State College before joining the UT System in 1965. This walk follows those many lives through the places they left behind.
Ransom Hall went up in 1919 and once held nearly everything, from offices and labs to the library and an auditorium. The university identifies it as the oldest building left on campus. Texas Hall opened in 1965 with Louis Armstrong as its first performer. For decades the Mavericks played basketball and volleyball right on its stage, an arrangement Sports Illustrated singled out in 1997 as one of the best places to watch a college game.
Map lovers get a treat at the Central Library's Special Collections. It grew around a 1974 gift of some 10,000 books, documents and other items from Fort Worth collectors Jenkins and Virginia Garrett, and it is especially strong in maps of Texas and the Gulf. The most moving chapter is the site of the Berachah Industrial Home, a refuge opened in 1903 for homeless young women and unwed mothers. More than 80 people, many of them infants, are buried in its small cemetery.
It's a thoughtful, varied walk that reveals how much history sits beneath a busy modern campus.
It is a self-guided walking tour: 8 stops, about 1.1 miles, ~55 min. Go at your own pace; the app keeps your place.
Where does it start?
In Arlington, Texas. The exact starting point, the full stop list and turn-by-turn directions are in the TexasRoam app.
How do I take this tour?
Download TexasRoam for iPhone or iPad from the App Store. The tour is included with TexasRoam+. It is not available on the web map.
When is the best time to go?
Visit on a weekday in daylight when the library's Special Collections are open, and check the Planetarium at UT Arlington's schedule if you want to catch a public show.
Take the “UT Arlington Campus Tour”
Texas Roam guides you turn by turn through Arlington with maps, audio narration and check-ins as you go — plus all 8 stops on this tour and every guided tour, hiking trail and historical marker across Texas. Get it on the App Store.
Guided tours & hiking trails are available only in the TexasRoam app for iPhone & iPad — not on the web map. Free to download; unlock with TexasRoam+.
