Austin Female Academy
Lura N. Rouse
General Entry
G. C. Baggerly, pastor of the First Baptist Church, opened the Austin Female Academy in Austin on October 21, 1850. In 1851 the school occupied a new building on Pecan Street (later Sixth Street) and added a "thorough collegiate course." Baggerly asked the Baptist State Convention to send visitors to conduct annual examinations, but his request was declined. Although the Cherokee Baptist Association recommended the school, Baggerly gave up his project and moved to Tyler in 1853, when he could not convert the school into a Baptist institution.
