The University of Texas opens its doors…

The University of Texas opens its doors on September 15, 1883, in Austin.

The first mention of a public university in Texas can be traced to the 1827 constitution for the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas.

Although an article promised to establish public education in the arts and sciences, no action had been taken by the Mexican government, but after Texas obtained its independence from Mexico in 1836, the Congress of Texas adopted the Constitution of the Republic, which included a provision to establish public education in the republic, including two universities or colleges.

The Congress of Texas eventually agreed on January 26, 1839, to set aside fifty leagues of land towards the effort; in addition, forty acres (one hundred and sixty thousand square meters) in the new capital of Austin were reserved and designated "College Hill."

In 1845, Texas was annexed into the United States of America.

The state legislature passed the Act of 1858, which set aside one hundred thousand dollars in United States bonds towards construction of a university.

In addition, the legislature designated land, previously reserved for the encouragement of railroad construction, toward the university's fifty leagues, but the secession of Texas from the Union and the American Civil War prevented further action on these plans.

After the war, the 1862 Morrill Act had facilitated the creation of what is now Texas A&M University, which was established in 1876 as the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas.

The Texas Constitution of 1876 mandated that the state establish a university "at an early day," calling for the creation of a "university of the first class," styled "The University of Texas."

It had revoked the endowment of the railroad lands of the Act of 1858 but appropriated one million acres (four thousand square kilometers) in West Texas.

In 1883, another two million are granted, with income from the sale of land and grazing rights going to The University of Texas and Texas A&M.

In 1881, Austin had been chosen as the site of the main university, and Galveston had been designated the location of the medical department.

On the original "College Hill," an official ceremony began construction on what is now referred to as the old Main Building in late 1882.