A Brief History of the Texas Section

The organization now known as the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) was started in July of 1913 by a group of seven engineers after a Texas Good Roads meeting in Corpus Christi. They reconvened at the North Beach (Breakers) Hotel with a plentiful supply of beer to discuss how to set up such an organization. This group consisted of Terrell Bartlett, San Antonio; John B. Hawley, Fort Worth; J. Milton Howe, Houston; Robert J. Potts, College Station; James C. Nagle, College Station; Julian C. Feild, Denison; and J. F. Witt, Dallas. Most of these men were members of ASCE. At least three State or Urban associations of members of ASCE had been formed in previous years and five were formed during 1913. The Texas organizers were mostly consulting engineers but included a couple of college professors. Following the meeting in Corpus Christi, invitations were sent out announcing a Texas meeting to be held during the State Fair of Texas in late October. Charlie Davis of Fort Worth got information about forming a group from ASCE while on a trip to New York City. A meeting to formalize the organization was held in the Old Red Court House in Dallas on October 31, 1913. J. C. Nagle was elected the first president and J. F. Witt was elected secretary.

Since the 1913 beginning, two meetings have been held each year with formal technical presentations as well as Section business being conducted. The early meetings had a small number in attendance but did have considerable discussion of the papers presented. Strong technical presentations continue to be very important but the discussions are not as extensive now. Outstanding papers were printed in the Texas Civil Engineer in the past. Beginning in 1994 all papers have been published as Proceedings of each bi-annual meeting and are now produced on CDs. Written discussions of papers published in the Proceedings may be included. At a recent meeting, seventy-eight papers were presented in twelve categories.

The office for the Texas Section was initially at a consulting engineer's offices. Later the various universities in Texas were able to provide office space and a faculty member served as secretary to the Section. The office was moved to Austin and a full time paid staff was established in 1989. The first branch was formed in Dallas in 1924. Other branches followed in Fort Worth, Brazos and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in the last part of the 1930's. Seven branches were formed in the early 1950's. Five members of the Texas Section have served as president of the national organization and nine have served as vice-president.

For more information on the history of the Texas Section request a copy of "The First 80 Years" from the Section office.