Texas Tech University Campus Tour

Texas Technological College was created in 1923 on the open plains west of Lubbock and opened in 1925 with a handful of buildings designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick. The Spanish Renaissance look he gave the core, with red tile roofs and ornate towers, still defines the campus. Agriculture was central to the young college, and two of its oldest structures are a livestock pavilion and a dairy barn. This walk starts at the Memorial Circle entrance, circles the bell-towered Administration Building and a famous bronze cowboy, visits those farm buildings, and finishes at the university's museums of the Plains and ranch life.

When Texas Technological College opened on the open plains west of Lubbock in 1925, it was a handful of red-tile-roofed buildings with a mission to serve West Texas farms and ranches. This walk follows that thread through campus traditions, working farm buildings and museums that still tell the story of life on the Plains.

The Administration Building is architect Wyatt C. Hedrick's homage to Spain's University of Alcalá de Henares. Its east tower holds the Victory Bells, a gift of the class of 1936 that has rung after Red Raider wins ever since, though an all-night celebration in 1937 led to a 30-minute cap. Nearby, Will Rogers rides his horse Soapsuds in a 1950 bronze by Electra Waggoner Biggs. Campus legend says the statue was turned so the horse's hindquarters point toward Texas A&M, and the Saddle Tramps wrap it in red crepe paper before home games.

The college's farm roots are still easy to see. The 1927 Dairy Barn, with its silo and homey Arts and Crafts look, was reportedly designed to win the admiration of working farmers and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the National Ranching Heritage Center, dozens of relocated ranch buildings dating from the 1780s to the 1950s trace the story of ranching on the Plains.

It's a rewarding mix of college tradition, distinctive architecture and Western heritage.