History

The Department of Horticulture and Botany was established at and the Agricultural Mechanical College of Texas in 1887. The first degree in Horticulture and Botany was awarded in 1898. The Departments of Horticulture and Botany were separated in 1906 and E.J. Kyle was appointed the first Head of the Department of Horticulture (Dr. Kyle later became Dean of Agriculture and our current football stadium, Kyle Field, was named after him).

In 1963, the Department of Horticulture was merged into the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. In 1976, the Department of Horticultural Sciences was re-formed. Eight years later the Department was moved into its current building (Horticulture/Forest Science Building) it now occupies on the west campus at Texas A&M University. The Department is currently one of fourteen Departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (COALS).