UTMB

Formerly a state medical college and predecessor of the University of Texas Medical Branch, the school opened in 1865 as a branch of Soule University at Chappell Hill.  In 1873 the school was reorganized as the Texas Medical College and Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Ashbel Smith, a brilliant-fiery tempered surgeon who was also famed as Texas Statesman. In 1891, the Medical Branch of the University of Texas was established at this building with Sealy Hospital as the college's teaching hospital.  The Old Red originally housed the entire school.  It was one of the few buildings to withstand the 1900 Great Storm.  Today the Medical Branch has an annual enrollment of 900 and is one of Texas's leading medical colleges.

Click here for additional history on the Old Red  or for a virtual tour of UTMB Campus click here. 

Also available:  is a  virtual medical tour and  information about Galveston Island.