hen Texas A&M's Administration building opened its magnificent grillwork  doors in the fall of 1933, it housed nearly all of the administrative offices of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. The printing and publicity offices were on the ground floor. The Registrar's Office took up  the entire north end of the main floor. The south end was occupied by the Fiscal department. Also on the main floor were the Commandant's Office, the orderly room and the Branch College Office. The President (Dr. T. O. Walton) had offices on the third floor along with those of the Dean of the College, the Dean of Arts and Sciences, the Dean of Agriculture, the Dean of Vocational Training, the faculty room and the offices of all student publications. The entire fourth floor was taken up by the Texas Forest Service. In addition, office space was set aside for the Association of Former Students.
   As the late architect and authority on campus architecture, Ernest Langford  '13 saw it, Sam C. P. Vosper's design of the Administration Building was the most spectacular on campus. When it came to the interior design however, Langford believed that Vosper had "pulled out all the stops." The treatment of the walls, the main stairway, pilasters, ceiling and floors were unequaled in any campus structure. His attention to detail is especially apparent in the highly ornate "island" lighting fixture above the main lobby.

   The designs were more than just decoration for the sake of decoration. Vosper  worked into the exterior column and interior design the "idealized" portrait of a "typical" A&M cadet. He then added the likeness of a young woman into the capitals and other areas of the interior. The young woman was Sara Orth (the last Mrs. J. W. Aston of Dallas) , the daughter of William A. Orth, superintendent of construction of campus buildings. This was not the first time Vosper had worked her face into a design. Her likeness was used extensively on the main floor of the Cushing Memorial Library.
   Vosper's stunning terrazzo floor in the main lobby is especially worthy of  note. The design and workmanship are of the highest quality. Its distinguishing feature is a twelve-foot diameter map of the State of Texas that highlights, in terrazzo and brass inlay, the history of the state,  beginning with the Spanish conquest. Different colors of terrazzo delineate the various geological formations of the state. Brass inlays pinpoint the Spanish missions, cattle camps, the sites of major battles, and the route of the El Camino Real (Old San Antonio Road) as well as Washington-on-the Brazos and other capitals of the Republic and State.
   Sadly many Aggies graduate without ever going into this, the most beautiful of campus buildings. It is worth visiting the next time you are on campus.

The ornate "island" lighting fixture appears to float above the lobby.