Michigan State University - Red Cedar Log Yearbook (East Lansing, MI)

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greet jimi Jtudentr HE BUILDINGS, if not complete at this time, could be improved as the needs arose, the 'fcampusv was not even clear of slashing and brush-but that was part of the plan, to have students attend ucollegei' part of each day, and work the rest of the time on the grounds as part of their education and ukeepf' Such manual labor was considered vital to the development of well-rounded, responsible citizens. To the Gunnisons it looked good. After President Williams had enrolled them and introduced them to some of their classmates they set out on a tour of the three buildings and the grounds. College Hall was a three-story rectangular structure of orange-red brick, 50 by l00 feet, built on a gentle rise. The first floor had a partially-supplied chemistry laboratory at the north end, an assembly hall-chapel at the south. Un the second floor were two large classrooms and two offices, one for the presi- dent, another for the college treasurer, on the third floor, a meager library in one corner, a museum in another, and three small class- rooms. The horse barn was of brick, two stories above a cellar. It was housing for the stock the students would need to work the farm and grounds. i . x Rf The first greenhouse, built in 1866, soon proved inadequate, and this one was built in 1874, at the edge of the river, overlooking the hollow in which the Beal gardens were later planted. 15

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Q Williams hall, center, helped house growing body of students in 1874. Saint's Rest, left, College Hall, right. lmfee building! amd .nbc dedicated men FOR RESOURCES, the Legislature turned to a provision of the 1850 constitution which deeded 22 sections from a federal salt springs grant for the land, the erection of buildings, the purchase of furniture, apparatus, libraly and implements, payment of professors and teachers, and such other necessary expenses to be incurred in the establishment and suc- cessful operation of the Agricultural College of the State of Michiganf' The salt springs lands were sold, and with the proceeds the state purchased from A. R. Burr 676.57 acres of muck land three and one-half miles east of the new capitol. 14 It paid Burr S15 per acre: 9B10,148.55. Lansing, the state capital, far removed from the center of Michigan's population, was in the wilderness as far as most people were concerned. Years later, The Bubble, a student publication, would describe the city as bounded by the '6Big Marshf, uillimitable mud, and Hinfinite swamp. But Michigan built its Agricultural Col- lege, using clay from a nearby hollow for the bricks. It hired a staff and a president, set up rules and courses of study, pushed the debris to one side, and opened the doors. The date: May 13, 1857.

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T ,g 3' ,Q 4 HE OTHER HALL, Saint's Rest, was to be the Gunni- sons' home while they were at college. The basement, where they would spend many leisure hours, contained the kitchen, washrooms, students' dressing room, storeroom and cellar, with a cooking range and cold and hot water tanks and washing equipment. The dining room, sitting room, reading room and steward's apartment occupied the first floor. The second and third floors were well-ventilated dormitories, in which students slept four to a room. The capacity of Saint's Rest was the limit of College enroll- ment, for neighboring farm houses could not accommodate roomers, and the road to Lansing discouraged thoughts of daily travel. tx x ll N 'xg N 1 l s ll I 4 .I K. , . xy, 2 ,T 4 I jj ,X 1 .7 ff 1 ' 1 si-f' 2- '. . ..ry , Europe for his health in 1873-74. 16 if Theophilus Capen Abbot, president from 1863 to 1884. Pr0f. George T. Fairchild acted in his place when he went to