Inside the New State Agricultural College
A look at the flourishing early days of the state school at Pullman as it prepares to serve the agricultural heart of Washington.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A representative of the POST-INTELLIGENCER today visited the Washington agricultural college at Pullman. The college currently utilizes a three-story frame structure, but a new brick dormitory is already full. In the basement, the culinary department operates under the care of a steward, where an immense twelve-foot range prepares meals for 168 enrolled students. The dormitory is partitioned, though crowded, with students managing their own living conditions. President Lilley intends to push practical instruction in the coming terms, focusing on agriculture, horticulture, and domestic arts. The college is seen as a vital institution for Whitman County, which is considered the banner agricultural county of the state, ensuring that the school will remain in Pullman despite rumors of relocation.
“It is admitted that Whitman is by all odds the banner agricultural county of the state. This being the case it is but meet that this county should have this great institution of agricultural learning.”
This early account of Washington State University (then the agricultural college) captures the foundational boosterism that still surrounds land-grant universities today—viewing them as both technical training centers and essential political prizes for their home regions.
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