On November 4, 1861, the Territorial University (later, University of Washington) opens in downtown Seattle. The university was located at present-day 4th Avenue and University Street, where the Olympic Hotel was built in 1924.
The cornerstone had been laid early that year, on May 21, 1861. The university opened with 30 students and one teacher, Asa Shinn Mercer (1839-1917). Primary grade subjects were taught along with other subjects. It was not until 1902 that the university abolished preparatory subjects and became an institution of higher learning exclusively. This occurred several years after the university's 1895 move to its present campus on Lake Washington in what is now known as the University District neighborhood in Seattle.
Sources:
Roberta Frye Watt, Four Wagons West: the Story of Seattle (Portland, OR: Metropolitan Press, 1931), 280; J. Willis Sayres, This City of Ours (Seattle: Seattle School District No. 1, 1936), 101, 102.
Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that
encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both
HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any
reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this
Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For
more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact
the source noted in the image credit.
Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided
By:
The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins
| Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry
| 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle
| City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach
Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private
Sponsors and Visitors Like You