Avery Land Donation
Pictured left to right: Charles Avery, Christina Avery Fell, John Avery, and Nelson Avery.
By 2004, the RRHEC had outgrown its 15 portable buildings located outside Westwood High School. Needing a new space to support the program’s continued growth, Texas State University, renamed in 2002, reached out to the Avery family for help. In response, the Averys donated 101 acres of land, permitting Texas State to move forward with its plans to establish a permanent RRHEC campus.
The current land the Round Rock Campus sits on is a donation from brothers Charles, John, and Nelson Avery and sister Christina Avery Fell. The land had been in their family for 5 generations and was initially a 320-acre Homestead purchased by their great-great-grandparents, Arvid and Anna Lena Nilsson. Arvid and Anna were Swedish immigrants who moved in 1854 to the area now known as Round Rock and purchased the Homestead in 1855.
By 1880, Arvid and Anna Lena's son, Andrew John Nelson, had increased their property to roughly 6,000 acres.
Arvid and Anna Lena Nilsson
Below is a map that shows the parcel of land donated by the Avery family in 2004. The land stretches from Avery Nelson Parkway north to University Boulevard, between Seton parkway and College Park Drive. It also includes two nearby parcels of land donated to ACC and Texas A&M, including land donated to construct hospitals and medical centers.
Brothers John and Nelson Avery Receive Honorary Doctoral Degrees from Texas State University
Both brothers were awarded their degree August, 3rd 2024 along with students from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, College of Education, College of Health Professionals and Graduate College during the commencement ceremony.