The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has kicked off a yearlong celebration leading up to its 125th anniversary, which will be marked next year.
The Galveston County Daily News reports the university will be holding events to celebrate the anniversary over the next year. The celebration officially kicked off Monday with a picnic.
Galveston was chosen as the site of Texas' first public medical school by a statewide vote in 1881. It was established 10 years later, in 1891.
The school's first academic building, a structure with a Victorian facade known commonly as Old Red, still stands. It was badly damaged by both the 1900 Hurricane and Hurricane Ike, and even survived a proposal in the 1970s that would have replaced it with a parking garage.
