The city of Huntsville is located in the piney woods of East Texas between Dallas and Houston. It is the seat of Walker County and home to Sam Houston State University, named in honor of the American statesman, politician, and solider, Samuel Houston (1793-1863).

SHSU opened October 10, 1879 as Sam Houston Normal Institute, the first teacher training school in the southwestern United States.  The first baccalaureate degrees were offered in 1919 and the broadened curriculum prompted a change in name to Sam Houston State Teachers College.  In its 125 years, Sam Houston State University has become a leader in academics, athletics, and research.

Harry Fishburne Estill (1861-1942) ascended to the position of President of Sam Houston Normal Institute in 1908. His father, Charles, taught in Huntsville at Austin College and later at SHNI, where Harry was a member of SHNI’s first graduating class in 1880. After his father's death in 1882, President Joseph Baldwin tapped young Harry to replace his father as an instructor. Following other administrative roles, Estill was elevated to the presidency where he served for 29 years, the longest serving chief executive of the university. The college's second library, built in 1929, was dedicated to Estill.

This website aims to document the changes across the SHSU campus from its inception to the present day, incorporating information about the people that the buildings honor and other prominent campus landmarks. (more...)

The Steamboat House, that strangely-shaped former residence located on the grounds of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, celebrates its sesquicentennial year in 2008. Constructed in 1858 on a tract of land east of Oakwood Cemetery, the house was named "Buena Vista" by its creator but became known as "the Steamboat House" because its unusual design evoked the image of a double-decker steamboat. Sam Houston moved to the residence in 1862 and died there in July of the following year. After a series of owners, renovations, and an eventual relocation to the museum grounds, the building was presented to the state on March 2, 1936 - Texas Independence Day.