1870

Mar. 30
Texas readmitted to United States.

---

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

Feb. 10
The official date of the removal of Austin College from Huntsville to Sherman.

---

1877

Methodist Church buys former Austin College Building, establishes short-lived Mitchell College for boys.

---

1878

1879

Apr. 21
Governor Oran M. Roberts creates legislature to create an institution named after Sam Houston. Only Texas A&M and its associated Prairie View campus had been established earlier, in 1876, as state-supported institutions of higher learning, making SHSU the third-oldest university in Texas. The Normal received top students that were recommended on a quota basis from each Texas senatorial district.

---

Oct. 10
Sam Houston Normal Institute, the first teacher training school in the southwestern United States opens with one classroom building, four faculty members, and 110 students.

---

Campus named SHNU until 1923.

---

Bernard Mallon begins tenure as president (until October 21, 1879).

---

Unknown
Hildreth H. Smith begins tenure as president until 1881

---