From the start, Minnesota’s colleges and universities thoughtfully designed their buildings and campuses. Well-planned structures and land usage would attract students and donors, and perhaps they could even symbolize the quality education students would receive in such a setting. Many campuses preserve parts of their original architecture even to this day.

Colleges were also often established in one location but later moved to another. Gustavus Adolphus College began with a small, temporary school opening in 1863 in Red Wing, before the college moved to its permanent location in St. Peter, opening in 1876. Luther Seminary was originally located in Robbinsdale from 1888-1895. The building burned down in 1895 and rather than rebuild, they moved to St. Paul instead. Stearns House, formerly a hotel, was purchased by the state and was St. Cloud State University’s first building in 1869. Northwestern Health Sciences University was first located at 608 Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis (1941-1948) and moved to two more locations before moving to Bloomington in 1985.

The landscape and setting of a campus are often essential to its overall feel, and Minnesota colleges are no exception. Here are several early campus landscape photographs and drawings of colleges and universities in the state.

Old Main is the term used to describe an original building on college and university campuses. They were often the only building when the school was first getting started, giving them particular significance. Old Mains are often repurposed for other uses as campuses expand, but still hold sentimental value. Pictured below are the Old Mains of Minnesota’s first three Normal Schools in Winona, Mankato, and St. Cloud, as well as an architectural drawing for Old Main at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Occasionally, Old Main buildings are accidentally or purposefully destroyed. View the 1950 demolition of the Old Main building at St. Cloud State University in the film below.

The demolition of the Old Main building, St. Cloud State Teachers College, 1950

Libraries existed at early Minnesota colleges and universities in the late 19th and early 20th century, but they did not always have their own designated structure. Hamline University’s original building at their Red Wing location in 1856 contained a library, but it was not until 1907 that they constructed their first library building, receiving grant money to build it from Andrew Carnegie. Railroad magnate James J. Hill (a major contributor to Hamline University) is pictured standing on the construction platform.

St. Cloud State University also had a library in their Old Main building in 1897. In 1913, the campus library was relocated to the Old Model School building. It was not until 1952 that Kiehle Library, St. Cloud State University’s first purpose-built library, opened. The library was relocated to Centennial Hall in 1971, and moved one more time in 2000 to the James W. Miller Learning Resources Center.

Here’s a glimpse of St. Cloud State University’s new library at the James W. Miller Learning Resources Center from the dedication ceremony in 2000.

James W. Miller Resources Center dedication, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Though librarians staffed college libraries in the late 19th century, librarianship as a profession did not fully take off in Minnesota until 1891 when the Minnesota Library Association organized their first meeting. With a professional network and advocacy, the field of librarianship grew and colleges offered more services through the library. Upon opening in 1902, Duluth Normal School had a library, but no librarian. Katherine W. Ensign started in that position in 1903, caring for 800 volumes. Ruth Ely joined the staff when Katherine Ensign left in 1907 and is pictured below in the Duluth Normal School library. The scrapbook she is pictured in, and others from the Duluth State Normal School, were all compiled by librarians. Organizing and preserving local history was encouraged and not outside the scope of libraries. William W. Folwell, University of Minnnesota Librarian, spoke at a 1907 library association meeting about how original documents, such as letters and diaries were important to libraries and advised librarians to preserve local history of their towns and the people, as they will be of value in the future.

Librarians in the early 20th century, beyond creating, maintaining, and preserving library collections, also taught classes. In 1913 Ruth Ely offered a new library science course at Duluth Normal School. Students could take the course instead of the domestic science course to earn credit toward graduation.

The books added to the Duluth Normal school library collection supported the curriculum, which includes classes on Psychology and Pedagogy, Biology, Mathematics, History, Civics, and Domestic Science. Just a few of the book titles that were added to the collection in 1909 were Practical Pedagogues, Handbook of Alaska, Genetic Psychology, and Vegetable Cookery.

Learn more about this exhibit and find additional resources on this topic, or return home using the page links below.