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This Old HouseThe history and future of Harrington House
By Luke Blount
More than sixty years after the death of Dr. John T. Harrington, his
spirit still remains inside the welcoming doors of the Harrington House
Faculty Center. Standing firmly inside Baylor's campus on Eighth
Street, the Harrington House has seen many Baylor faces pass through
its halls over the past 120 years, but the building did not always
belong to the university.
 John
Harrington moved to Waco from Abilene with his wife, Genoa, and
purchased the house on 1313 South Eighth Street for $4,200 in 1897. A
founding member of the first board of trustees for Hardin-Simmons
University, Harrington became a member of the Baylor Board of Trustees
in 1903, serving until his death at the age of eighty-nine. As a
physician, Harrington used his home as an office for his medical
practice. Even Baylor presidents sought the knowledge and friendship of
the local doctor, and Harrington remained a strong supporter of Baylor,
often donating large sums of money to support the university during
hard times. He also co-founded the Baylor Medical College and served as
president of the Chemical Oil Company and treasurer of the Elta Gold
Mining Company of Waco.
After Harrington's death in 1947, his two daughters occupied the home.
Baylor tried to purchase it in the 1950s, but the family refused. By
1973, however, the house had been vacant for several years and was
vandalized and growing decrepit. Students spread ghost stories about
the old Harrington home, which had become an eyesore on campus. Baylor
officials negotiated for more than a year with the Harrington family
before finally reaching an agreement. According to an interview with
one of Harrington's granddaughters, the family took close to $10,000
less than the asking price in return for Baylor's promise to not tear
down the home for at least fifteen years.
After the purchase, Baylor spent $60,000 in four months on renovations
before dedicating the building in the name of Dr. John T. Harrington in
February 1974. The home received a new kitchen, central heat and air,
electric wiring, and a new roof among other repairs. Upon completion,
the Harrington House became Baylor's first faculty dining center,
seating thirty-five guests. With subsidized prices, the facility
offered chicken fried steak for just eighty cents.
In the 1980s, Baylor renovated the building again, refurbishing the
furniture, updating the décor, and adding the current dining facility
at the back of the building. Today, one hundred guests usually eat
lunch there on any given day, and the building also provides guest
housing for some of Baylor's most revered visitors. However, as dining
services move this fall to the new McMullen-Connally Faculty Center at
the corner of Speight and Fifth Street, the fate of Harrington House is
unknown. "The future uses for the building have not yet been
determined," said Dr. Reagan Ramsower, Baylor's vice president for
finance and administration. Rumors have spread around campus that
Harrington House was in jeopardy of being razed, but Ramsower told the Line, "There are no plans to demolish the building."
"We fought for it," said Ana Matei, Harrington House guest- room host,
when asked about the facility's future. Matei has been working and
living at Harrington House for more than ten years. She says most of
the guests appreciate the comfortable atmosphere, and she argues that
Harrington House offers something that other buildings do not: history.
"You can build new buildings and spend money," she said, "but you can't
buy history."
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