New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (NHC) was founded and incorporated in 1866, as a

land grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in connection with

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. In 1893, NHC moved to

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, where it became the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

(UNH) in 1923, by an act of the

New Hampshire General Court The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 membe ...

History

The

Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or s ...

of 1862 granted federal lands to New Hampshire for the establishment of an agricultural-mechanical college. The state incorporated New Hampshire College in 1866 and opened the college in 1868 in

. The institution was officially associated with

and was directed by Dartmouth's president.

resident

Benjamin Thompson Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (german: Reichsgraf von Rumford; March 26, 1753August 21, 1814) was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolut ...

left his farm and assets to the state for the establishment of an agricultural college. On January 30, 1890, Thompson died and his will became public. On March 5, 1891,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Hiram A. Tuttle : ''For the Olympic horseman, see Hiram Tuttle (equestrian)'' Hiram Americus Tuttle (October 16, 1837 – February 10, 1911) was an American merchant and Republican politician from Pittsfield, New Hampshire, who served as the 43rd governor of New ...

signed an act accepting the conditions of Thompson's will. On April 10, 1891, Tuttle signed a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

authorizing the college's move to Durham. Excited about the pending move to Durham, the Class of 1892 held commencement exercises in an unfinished barn on the Durham campus. On April 18, 1892, the Board of Trustees voted to "authorize the faculty to make all the arrangements for the packing and removal of college property at Hanover to Durham." In fall of 1893, classes began in Durham with 51

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

and 13 upperclassmen, and graduate study was established. In 1923, Governor Fred H. Brown signed a bill changing the name of the college to

, despite pressure by state agriculture interests that had defeated a similar proposal in 1911. The university was incorporated on July 1, 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Hampshire College Of Agriculture And The Mechanic Arts Defunct universities and colleges in New Hampshire Dartmouth College history History of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Embedded educational institutions Educational institutions established in 1866 1866 establishments in New Hampshire