STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher education in Nacogdoches, Texas, U.S. It is part of the Texas State University system. It comprises the Graduate School and schools of Applied Arts and Science, Business, Education, Fine Arts, Forestry, Liberal Arts, and Sciences and Mathematics. The university maintains an experimental and teaching forest, a forestry field station, and the Center for Applied Studies in Forestry. The Ralph W. Steen Library is the main book depository on campus. There are 12,500 full-time students. As provided by state legislation in 1921, Stephen F. Austin Teachers College was founded in 1923. The campus was built on land that was formerly owned by U.S. Senator Thomas J. Rusk. A notable marker on campus is the historic monument Old Stone Fort, which was originally erected in 1779 by Captain Antonio Gil Y'barbo, an early settler of Nacogdoches. The fort was held by various nations and republics and was rebuilt in 1907 and in 1936. Enrollment grew rapidly in the early 1960s, and in 1969, the college was elevated to university status.