His Thrift Built First Aggie Dorm
Source: Article by: R. Henderson Shuffler; Director, Texana Program, The University of Texas
A sturdy, thrifty German-born Texan, Sen. George Pfeuffer of New Braunfels, fought the battles of agriculture vs pure culture in the Texas Legislature and guided a waning Texas A&M College through some of its rockiest days just before the turn of the century. Holding the unusual dual position of state senator and chairman of the A&M hoard of directors, George Pfeuffer exerted marked influence on both that institution and the state as a whole.
The prosperous New Braunfels merchant, a native of Bavaria, was appointed to the A&M board in 1878, while serving as county judge of Comal County. Two years later he was elected to the state senate, but retained his position on the college board. By 1882, when he was elected president of the board, he was in a key position to he helpful in the Legislature, where he was chairman of the senate's committee on education.
Only a man in such a strategic spot and possessed of George Pfeuffer's bulldog courage could have possibly saved the college from oblivion at this time. With the opening of the University of Texas in 1883, the majority of the Legislature had apparently become greatly enamored of pure culture and considered the needs of a "cow college" insignificant in comparison with the demands of the classics, pure sciences and art.
In one thundering oration after another, Sen. Pfeuffer preached to the Legislature the value of educating men in the means of making a living as well as in the arts of living. He extolled the virtues of agricultural and mechanical progress and emphasized their necessity to the future of Texas. Eventually he secured for the college in his care the funds necessary for its continuance.
But George Pfeuffer, in true Germanic tradition, knew the importance of saving money as well as the necessity of getting it. He examined the accounts of the college closely, and at one point found the buying system of the mess hall to be extremely wasteful. The board agreed to turn the purchasing of supplies for the dining hall over to its chairman for a two-year period. In that time he showed a saving of $11,500.
This was slightly more than the amount needed for construction of a new dormitory. The two-story building was erected and was named Pfeuffer Hall. It stood, just south of the college's main building, until a few years ago. The mulberry-red handmade brick from a primitive kiln near Calvert was saved when the hall was razed. George Pfeuffer would be pleased to know that the brick is still in use, having been built into a lovely home at 1701 N. Golder St., Odessa. He might not be so pleased to know the present owner, R. O. Canon Sr., is an ardent University of Texas ex.