Was the College Location Bought?
A regent suggests the Pullman site for the agricultural college was secured through secret payments.
Regent Bellinger of Colfax, while en route to Olympia, was asked if he had stated that Pullman paid $24,000 to secure the location of the agricultural college. 'I don't know that I ever made such a statement,' he replied, 'but I do say I believe it can be proved that Pullman did pay such an amount to secure the college. It is a fact that many suits are being brought over there to force payment of subscriptions.' He stated the First National Bank of Pullman is trying to collect these subscriptions. Bellinger argued the matter should be investigated from the beginning and that if bribery secured the location, the site selection should be done over again. He questioned the logic of locating a college within eight miles of the Idaho state university and suggested those who promised funds to secure the site are now facing financial failure and are attempting to force payment to cover their investments.
“It looks as though those who agreed to pay sums to secure the college expected to realize on the investment and have failed. Therefore a tent test is being made in forcing payment of the same.”
This 1893 debate over the placement of Washington State University (then the agricultural college) echoes contemporary regional anxieties about which cities gain from public institutional growth and the opaque role of private capital in public site selection.
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