On Sept. 15, 1883, the University of Texas at Austin opened with one building, eight professors, one proctor, and 221 students. Austin was selected as the site for the new university in 1881, and construction began on the original Main Building in November 1882.

In 1839, the Congress of the Republic of Texas ordered that a site be set aside to meet the state’s higher education needs. After a series of delays over the next several decades, the state legislature reinvigorated the project in 1876, calling for the establishment of a “university of the first class.”