Our History
TMI, founded in 1893, is a coeducational college-preparatory school for students in grades 6 through 12. 100% of our graduates go on to college after they have been prepared in a demanding program designed to develop the whole person spiritually, intellectually, physically, aesthetically and morally.
TMI is the oldest Episcopal college-preparatory school in the Southwest. We are over 50 years older than the other outstanding prep schools in Texas and Oklahoma, which were established by Episcopalians (for example, St. John’s (Houston), St. Mark’s (Dallas), St. Stephen’s (Austin), and Holland Hall (Tulsa). (St. Mary’s Hall (1879) is older than TMI but has not been officially affiliated with the Episcopal Church for many years).
TMI was established as “West Texas School for Boys” in 1893 by the Right Reverend James Steptoe Johnston, D.D., the second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. The name was soon changed to “West Texas Military Academy” (WTMA), and graduates referred to their Alma Mater as simply “West Texas” for decades. It has been said that TMI was the “outstanding monument” to Bishop Johnston’s episcopate. Our great founder took an abiding personal interest in the school until the day he died (November 4, 1924). Bishop Johnston was an “ecumenist” at heart and never thought his school the exclusive preserve of Episcopalians, though he did hope to use WTMA to prepare future leaders for the Church.
The original campus of WTMA was established in the Government Hill section of San Antonio, a stone’s throw from Fort Sam Houston. School opened on October 1, 1893, with 12 students and 3 masters. The Reverend Allan W. Burleson presided over a faculty committed to having a school as good as any in the nation, an institution where the formation of the Christian character and premier academics would be pursued with equal vigor. Burleson was Rector for seven years (1893-1900). The ideals of the school have not substantially changed since his day.
TMI has one of the oldest Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps in the United States. The Corps of Cadets remains a national Honor Corps of Distinction and is frequently invited to solemnize important South Texas events. The MacArthur Rifles drill team is frequently seen around the state.
General Douglas MacArthur (1897).was in the third graduating class of WTMA (1897). He wrote in his Reminiscences (1964) that his Alma Mater is where he developed “a desire to know, a seeking for the reason why, a search for the truth…” MacArthur gained an appointment to the United States Military Academy in 1898, and the rest is an important part of American and world history.
In 1911, WTMA moved to a new campus on a hill in Alamo Heights. The grand white edifice was a city landmark and often referred to as “the flour mill on the hill.” TMI moved to its new Texas Hill Country campus in March of 1989. (The school song begins, “On our city’s border, reared against the sky…” Things have certainly worked out this way.) In 1926, the upper school of San Antonio Academy and WTMA were merged, the name was changed to “Texas Military Institute,” and Dr. W.W. Bondurant, one of the great educators of Texas history, became head of school.
Many TMI alumni/ae have gone on to great careers in the professions, education, the military, the arts, public service, the sacred ministry, business, banking, and ranching. For example, the “father of Texas painting,” Julian Onderdonk, graduated in 1900; the brilliant Metropolitan Opera star, Rafaelo Diaz, was in the Class of 1912; Edgar Tobin, the famous World War I flying ace (in fact, he was the great Rickenbacker’s “pacing horse” in the Escadrille Lafayette), graduated in 1914—the first of many Tobins (or Tobin relations) to attend TMI, and Clyde Balsley ‘10 was one of the six organizers of the famous flying force; General Ralph Haines, the Supreme Commander of American Forces during the Vietnam era, was graduated in 1930 at the age of 16; John B. Armstrong ‘37 ran the King Ranch for over 30 years; Bob Ayres, the much admired Vice Chancellor of the University of the South, was in the Class of ‘44; Dan Blocker (”Hoss Cartwright” in Bonanza) graduated in ‘46; the Ambassador to the Court of St. James’ in the Bush presidency, Henry E. Catto, Jr., graduated in ‘48; and TMI also prepared great San Antonio gentlemen like Marshall T. Steves ‘40, Curtis Vaughan ‘44, Tom Frost ‘45, and Porter Loring ‘47. Congressman Lamar Smith and King Ranch chairman Tio Kleberg were in the Classes of ‘65 and ‘66, respectively. It should also be remarked that, in 107 years, TMI has produced over 50 clergy persons.
TMI has a man in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Ross Youngs played right field for the New York Giants in the 1920s. Many who follow high school football would say that the 1971 Panther varsity football team, which won the SPC championship, was one of the best teams to ever strap on the leather in South Texas. (Incidentally, the first high school football game in South Texas was played in 1894 between WTMA and San Antonio Academy.) In the 1980s and 90s, Mr. Mario Rivela’s soccer teams won no less than five state championships, and the swim team has lately won three. The TMI rifle team routinely wins it all in South Texas and elsewhere, and they have also been a national champion more than once.
Women were admitted to TMI for the first time in 1972. One of the first female graduates of TMI was Connie McCombs ‘74, daughter of South Texas entrepreneur B.J. “Red” McCombs. In 1974, the JROTC become optional, and TMI has been a mixed school of civilians and cadets ever since. After a one-year hiatus when TMI served grades 9-12 only, an eighth grade was restored in 1954, a seventh was added in 1967 and a sixth in 1973.
TMI has always depended upon the generosity of alumni and friends committed to her “full-blooded” mission. Many of these donors are Episcopalians. The bulk of the 72-acre Hill Country campus was given by Admiral and Mrs. Paul Howell of Houston, who sent three sons to TMI. A great portion of the physical plant was made possible through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Alkek of Houston and Bandera. The remarkable generosity of countless persons has made it possible for us to boast one of the finest campus facilities in the Southwest.
The administration, faculty, staff, and Board of Governors have made TMI a contender among the South’s great boarding schools. Those who shop carefully will readily see that TMI is a viable choice when considering schools such as St. Stephen’s in Austin, Baylor and McCallie in Tennessee or Woodberry Forest and Episcopal High School in Virginia. Our boarding program is small, carefully conceived, traditional, safe, and comprised of excellent young people and staff. Those who gain admission to the boarding program are motivated and mature young scholars who will gain a first-class experience.
TMI may be described as a traditional college-preparatory school where the formation of character, specifically the Christian character, is the ultimate purpose, and the program is especially suitable for self-starting persons who want to be leaders of the next generation. At TMI, words like “integrity”, “honor” and “virtue” are important. The watchwords are “High standards. Hard work. A helping community.”
