Overlooking Austin, Texas, from the west, the former Texas Military Institute building known locally as “The Castle” is still the most impressive structure on South Lamar. Surrounded by McMansions and trendy corrugated steel shopping centers, it represents a time in Austin’s history when anything west of Shoal Creek was considered “out of town.”
The Castle’s beginnings read like a modern tale of city-sponsored incentives to reel in big employers. The city of Austin courted the Bastrop Military Institute with a building fund of $10,000 in gold. The city leaders successfully enticed them to relocate to the hilltop off Blanco Street in 1870, where the school was renamed the Texas Military Institute (TMI).
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The 32-acre campus opened in 1872 with accommodations for 400 students of literature, the sciences, and military arts. Students paid $375 per academic year for tuition, board, and fees, according to the Texas State Historical Association. All the boys were required to live on campus (but who wouldn’t want to?).
The main building’s unique Gothic architecture made it the dominant structure in the area. The hilltop it graces was dubbed “Castle Hill” in its honor. Many local businesses have found it convenient to adopt the name, including the Castle Hill Cafe.
The TMI closed in 1880, and for a brief period The Castle stood empty. Then, from 1884 to 1887, it was home to Jacob Bickler’s Texas German and English Academy, or so says the historical marker on site. Not only is the building an Austin Historical Landmark, it’s also the oldest existing college building in Texas, according to the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association.
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Today, there’s a black wrought-iron fence surrounding the grounds and a sign indicating that Castle Hill Partners occupies the old academy. CHP specializes in real estate investment, construction, loan servicing, and property management. Perhaps it’s somewhat fitting for a real estate firm to occupy such an eclectic property.
It’s certainly more romantic to envision the eager faces of young men on their own for the first time, trying to find their places in the world in a setting designed to invoke the days of knights and armor. Did they feel like royalty studying Plato and Newton in the turrets of a Texas castle? Did the spectacular view of the city from their dorm windows inspire them to think deeper, study harder, and believe with increasing fervor in their impending mastery of the world?
Could the magic of such a place do the same for us today?
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