Penn State University

By Thomas E. Range II and Roger L. Willams

Penn State University was founded in 1855. Then known as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, the 400-acre campus had only one main building. With almost 100,000 current students (including students at the Commonwealth Campuses) and having the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world, Penn State continues to be a world leader in education. Since its founding, picture postcards have been published to showcase the buildings and highlight the student activities while documenting the school's narrative.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Aug 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781439657416

Thomas E. Range II

Author Thomas E. Range II, class of 1989, has been a member of both the Alumni Council of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Board of Directors of the Alumni Blue Band Association; is a former newsletter chair of the Fanfare, the Alumni Blue Band Association's newsletter; and has also coauthored two books about the Blue Band. Range selected over 200 postcards from his father's personal collection of more than 15,000 to illustrate Penn State University's rich history.

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INTRODUCTION

It is hard to believe that what began as the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania over 160 years ago has become the Pennsylvania State University. When the school started, there was but one main building, which was called the College Building at the time but would eventually become known as Old Main. The building housed everything from dormitory rooms and a cafeteria to classrooms and a library. From that humble beginning came Penn State, with close to 100,000 students a year, including the commonwealth campuses, and the strongest and largest dues-paying alumni association in the world.

The Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania was founded in 1855. The state legislature at the time wanted a state school and had to decide where it would be placed. James Irvin of nearby Centre Furnace, Pennsylvania, offered to donate 200 acres of land to the state for the school. To ensure the school would be placed in Centre County, Irvin then offered an additional 200 acres at a reduced rate. The legislature agreed, and the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania was born.

The first students did not arrive until 1859. At the time, the main building was not completely finished. The first president of the school was Evan Pugh, who would remain at this post until 1864. He would see the name of the school change from the Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania in 1862. President Pugh was instrumental in having the college designated as Pennsylvania’s land grant institution. The Morrill Act of 1862 allowed the sale of 30,000 acres of public land for each senator and representative the state had. The funds from the sale were then placed in an endowment that would go to the land grant institution. Many colleges in Pennsylvania vied for this designation, but Pugh was inf luential in having it assigned to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Pugh died in office in 1864, just a few months before the completion of the President’s House, which he had helped pay