The E.L. Reed Herbarium was founded in 1925 as part of the Texas Technological College (TTC). Located on the roof of the Biology building, the herbarium was founded by Reed and R.A. Studhalter, who provided key collections from the South Plains and Panhandle region of Texas. In the 1970s, Burgess and Northington led the first vegetative survey of the newly founded Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Culberson County, Texas, and TTC houses their collections.