Troy University was a short-lived university established at

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

in 1858 under the auspices of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

. The school closed in 1861. The building that housed the university remained a prominent Troy landmark until 1969. On the site now is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's

Folsom Library The Richard G. Folsom Library ("Folsom Library") is a research library in the Rensselaer Libraries system constructed in the Brutalist style located on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. It is named after Richard Gilman ...

History

There were initial plans for the founding of a college in Troy in 1853, and the plan for organization was adopted in 1854. The New York State Regents issued a provisional charter on April 13, 1855, to the educational board of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The original plan was for a four-year college course and an additional university course of "Lectures upon the higher branches of Science and literature, extending through two years". There also were unrealized plans for a school of Theology. A property was bought including most of Mount Ida in Troy, and a large building of Byzantine architecture was erected. The university opened for students on September 9, 1858, and the institution remained opened for about three years. On representations made to the Board of Regents by the President of the Board of Trustees, and by the Acting President of the faculty, the charter of Troy University was made absolute on March 18, 1861. Troy University was considered firmly enough established to allow for the 1859 creation of the Kappa Phi chapter of

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fiftee ...

chartered March 2, 1860. The administration of the university raised funds by selling scholarships, which were a right to attend in the future based on a current dollar amount. Apparently the inflationary period of the early 1860s destroyed the financial stability of the university. Sometime in 1862, the property's mortgage was foreclosed upon, and the site was purchased by St. Mary's Church of Albany. The Catholic Church maintained a seminary on the grounds, known as "St. Joseph's Theological Seminary of the Province of New York." In 1896, it became a Scholasticate of the Christian Brothers. The remaining thirteen students of Troy University were admitted to the degree of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

in Middletown, Connecticut St. Joseph's Seminary trained hundreds of priests until it closed during the 1890s. The building was subsequently used for a variety of purposes including housing orphans for a time."University Building"
RPI Archives. The huge four story building, with its four tall spires and Byzantine architecture, was an imposing feature of the Troy skyline until it was razed in 1969.
RPI Archives. The building was purchased by RPI in 1958 and was renamed the "University Building". The School of Management, the Public Relations department and a portion of the Physics department occupied the first two floors. The upper floors were closed off due to concerns of structural instability. The

was constructed on the site in 1976.

References

{{reflist 1858 establishments in New York (state) Defunct private universities and colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions disestablished in 1861 Educational institutions established in 1858 1861 disestablishments in New York (state) Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, New York