Historic Designation:
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
In 1909, the trustees accepted an offer from a group of Fort Worth citizens and churches of approximately 250 acres of land located three miles south of the city limits on a prominent hilltop, plus $100,000 for construction of its first building. In an era before automobiles, the site benefitted from a railroad line along its western edge. The site was laid out as the Seminary Hill Addition with a thirty-acre square block for the campus buildings. Surrounding the campus were 75 blocks that were subdivided into residential parcels to be sold to raise funds for the Seminary. Several years later, the Seminary built a private streetcar line to provide students a way to access goods and services on nearby Hemphill Street.
Sanguinet & Staats was hired to design a master plan and the first building. The orientation and general design of the plan was east-west, with access to the school via West Gambrell Street and James Avenue. In the mid-1950s, West Seminary Drive was completed on the north side of the campus, and the main orientation was rotated ninety degrees to align with Seminary Drive via a new entrance at William Fleming Court. After World War II, the seminary grew rapidly and many of the residential properties sold to others were reacquired by the seminary to provide room for expansion.
Beginning in the 1970s, buildings have been constructed outside the original thirty-acre square. In 2000, a block of West Spurgeon Street was closed between James and Stanley Avenues for campus expansion. In 2011, West Boyce Street along the south side of the square and one block each of Gordon Avenue and Townsend Drive were closed to bring three additional square blocks into the main body of the campus. In 2013, west side access via Gambrell Street was eliminated where it crossed the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad tracks.
The campus is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The dedication plaque is located on the corner of James Avenue and W. Seminary Drive.
Revised text provided by Daniel Haase.
Below are the individual campus buildings with addresses and descriptions:
Floy Barnard Hall - 4534 Stanley Ave. - 1915; 1920
B.H. Carroll Memorial Building - 2001 W. Seminary Dr. - 1949; 1955
George E. Cowden Hall - 1809 W. Broadus St. - 1926; 1992
Fort Worth Hall - 2009 W. Broadus St. - 1910
MacGorman Chapel and Performing Arts Center - 4616 Stanley Ave. - 2011
Mathena Hall - 2000 W. Spurgeon St. - 2017
Robert E. Naylor Student Center - 4530 Stanley Ave. - 1965
J.M. Price Hall - 4521 Frazier Ave. - 1950
Ray I. Riley Center - 1701 W. Boyce Ave. - 2000; 2001; 2006
A. Webb Roberts Library - 4518 Stanley Ave. - 1982
Myra K. and J. Roy Slover Recreation/Aerobics Center - 4616 Frazier Ave. - 1979
J. Howard and Floy K. Williams Campus Mall - 4521 Frazier Ave. - 1999