West Virginia University

West Virginia University

Under the terms of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the West Virginia Legislature made the Agricultural College of West Virginia on February 7, 1867, and the school formally opened on September 2 of that year. On December 4, 1868, administrators renamed the school West Virginia University to speak to a more extensive scope of advanced education. The University was based on the grounds of three previous institutes, the Monongalia Academy of 1814, the Morgantown Female Academy of 1831, and Woodburn Female Seminary of 1858. 

Upon its establishing, the nearby daily paper guaranteed that "a place more qualified for the peaceful and effective quest for science and writing is no place to be found".The first grounds building was developed in 1870 as University Hall, and was renamed Martin Hall in 1889 to pay tribute to West Virginia University's first president, the Rev. Alexander Martin of Scotland. After the Woodburn Seminary building was annihilated by flame in 1873, the centerpiece of what is presently Woodburn Hall was finished in 1876, under the name New Hall. The name was changed to University Building in 1878, when the College of Law was established as the main expert school in the condition of West Virginia. 

The antecedent to Woodburn Circle was done in 1893 when Chitwood Hall (then Science Hall) was built on the feign's north side. In 1909 a north wing was added to University Building, and the office was renamed Woodburn Hall. All through the following decade, Woodburn Hall experienced a few redesigns and augmentations, including the development of the south wing and east tower (in 1930) lodging the Seth Thomas clock. The three Woodburn Circle structures were recorded on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 1899, the Vance Farm was gained for the West Virginia University Experiment Station. 

WVU was required to have a Cadet Corps under the terms of the Morrill Act of 1862, which took into account the formation of area award schools. The United States Department of War—an antecedent of the U.S. Division of Defense—offered military hardware to the college at no charge, shaping the premise of the school's Military Tactics office. 

The overwhelming military impact prompted restriction of female enlistment that endured through the primary decade of the college. 

The pattern changed in 1889, when ten ladies were permitted to enlist and look for degrees at the college. In June 1891, Harriet Lyon turned into the main lady to get a degree from West Virginia University, completing first in the class in front of every single male understudy. Lyon's scholastic achievement upheld the acknowledgment of ladies in the college as understudies and teachers.