Michigan State University--Founded 1855

Michigan State University--Founded 1855 is a Michigan historical marker in Ingham County, dedicated 1955.

Beaumont Tower, East Lansing

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On this site stood College Hall, first building in the United States erected for the teaching of scientific agriculture. Here began the first college of its kind in America, and the model for Land Grant colleges established under the Morrill Act of 1862. This act granted lands for the endowment of colleges to provide for “liberal and practical education . . . in the several pursuits and professions in life.”

TodayHistorical map

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University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Historical maps covering this location

1853 · Map of the surveyed part of Michigan (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1854 · A map of the surveyed part of Michigan / by John Farmer ; engraved by S. Stiles & Co. (University Library, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
1873 · (Map of Ingham County, Michigan) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Michigan. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1909 · Mason, Michigan (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

(Map of Ingham County, Michigan), 1873, covering the location of Michigan State University--Founded 1855, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — (Map of Ingham County, Michigan), 1873, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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