2026-09-29T23:27:00+00:00 Zend_Feed_Writer https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/ Rattlers Remember https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org 2019-12-09T08:06:32+00:00 2019-12-17T02:09:45+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/26 Erica Esparza St. Mary’s College, located downtown, was looking to purchase a 75-acre property for the extension of their campus . It was purchased for a $1 from the West End Town Co. On August 23, 1893, plowing and excavation began as they broke ground. St. Mary’s College referred to the new campus as “Woodlawn.” It opened in 1884 and was named St. Louis College. This property was farmland when bought and was a sea of mesquite brushes, rattle snakes, and an existing cow barn with stables on the property. The original barn, stables, and pens were referred to as “the old barn.” This area included a hennery, dairy, stables, orchards, and vegetable gardens. The Marianists at the downtown campus were known to have harvested their own food through farming and agriculture in the 1850-1860s. The Marianists produced and managed their own resources using the land around the original campus property. When they moved to the Woodlawn campus, the Marianists continued their harvesting work on site, and they assigned brothers to the farm and dairy department. Brother Joseph F. Miller S.M. was heading the dairy and farm department at St. Louis College, by this time renamed, St. Mary’s College. He spent a twenty-year tenure at St. Mary’s making many contributions to the College. In 1916, Brother Joseph Miller supervised and financed the erection of a new barn building and other structural improvements. He was also the cow barn architect; he designed and oversaw the creation of the new structures. The new farm structures included a cow barn (using concrete for the interior structure), a storm shed on the northside of the barn, hay barn, cow stables, a chicken yard, a calf pen, cow pen, pig yard, and a hog house. The farm animals on the property included chickens, turkey, horses, mules, a 1700 pound bull, calves, cows (including one cow named Nora), hens, and pigs. Nightly, coyotes prowled through the stables, stealing chickens. Furthermore, Brother Joseph Miller S.M. would later be appointed to the office of provincial treasurer with the headquarters at Maryhurst Normal, Kirkwood Missouri. In April of 1929, Bro. Joseph Miller would return to the newly named St. Mary’s University for a visit. He was noted as giving high interest in the new improvements on campus such as the gymnasium, the track, and improvements to the dairy and farming section. By the 1940s through the 1950s, the animals and farm would be long gone. The barn would then be used as an armory, housing ROTC equipment, including M-1’s, 105’s, uniforms, and other equipment. The area outside the barn, which used to be stables and pens, became a rifle range. The farming land that surrounded the old barn became drill fields for the ROTC department. The old chicken yard became a pecan grove used for parties, picnics, and other festivities hosted by campus organizations. The pecan grove still hosts many festivities today, such as the oyster bake. The farm provided many necessary resources for the Marianists and their pupils at the turn of the century and should be remembered as a significant part of St. Mary’s history. For more (including 9 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article. 2019-04-30T18:40:21+00:00 2019-05-08T01:16:38+00:00 https://rattlersremember.stmupublichistory.org/items/show/4 Peter Coons The discrete, small white house located in Pecan Grove, known as the Marianist Heritage House, is the oldest building on the campus of St. Mary’s University. Built sometime before the school moved from its original location downtown to its current location in 1852, this house was used by the farmer who owned the property. Although its original purpose is unknown; however, a building is a building, and the new tenants of the land would make use of anything they could. After St. Mary’s moved onto this land, it was in dire need of structures to teach classes because St. Louis Hall served primarily as dormitory. Not one to waste what they’ve been given, the faculty of the university utilized the Marianist Heritage House and other similar structures as the first lecture halls while more permanent structures were constructed. As the university expanded its facilities throughout the 1900s, the small farm houses fell out of use as St. Mary’s adopted larger surplus portable military barracks that could accommodate more students. By the 1950s, two farm houses remained on campus. One was situated by the quad and the other was in Pecan Grove. The house by the quad was deconstructed as the area expanded, and it was eventually paved over, leaving only the house in Pecan Grove. From the 1920 to the 1950s, it served as the private residence, office and classroom of Brother Frank Zirnheld, S.M. until his death in 1955. For the majority of its existence, the Heritage House was used as a science and mathematics classroom. While primarily a science classroom, the house was split into two rooms, a classroom in the front and a lab in the back. However, this ended when Garni Science Hall was completed with the expansion of the School of Science in 1951 (By then, Brother Zirnheld had retired from teaching.). The house became an office space for staff without offices. From the 1980s to the 1990s, Father George Montague had his office in the front half of the building. In the back, another brother used the space to compile the course catalogues until computers made the old practice of printing them on paper by hand obsolete. In 1995, after Father Montague retired from teaching, the university decided to retire the house and formally designate it a landmark on campus. In a ceremony celebrating the rich history the house has had traveling around campus and serving as a classroom for the Marianists, St. Mary’s commemorated it officially as the Marianist Heritage House. Today, the house is occasionally used as an impromptu storage building. During the annual Fiesta celebration in San Antonio, Pecan Grove becomes the center of the campus during Oyster Bake, with the Heritage House serving as a silent reminder of the school’s long history here in the city. For more (including 2 images and 1 sound clip), view the original article.