Prosser Bets $3,000 of Its Own Money to Land a State Experiment Farm
The college regents accept 80 acres from E. F. Benson and the Northern Pacific — but only if the town's businessmen can raise the cash to break ground first.
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Prosser was definitely selected as the location for the state experimental station by the board of regents of the State College last week. The board voted to accept the site offered contingent upon the citizens of Prosser raising $3,000 to begin the development of the site. This sum has been pledged by the business men of Prosser and a campaign has been started to raise the money.
The land proposed for the site consists of 80 acres donated by E. F. Benson and the Northern Pacific Railway company, with a stipulation that $2,000 worth of improvement be done within one year's time. The board of regents added another $1,000 to this sum, making the whole sum to be raised by Prosser $3,000.
This money is to be raised to get the land in condition for planting, as the legislature did not make an appropriation for such purposes. That body merely stipulated that an experiment farm be located somewhere in this state.
The board of regents has an option on the adjoining 80 acres, which they can purchase at $30 per acre, and F. M. Bothrock offers an additional 65 acres at about $2.50 per acre if more land is needed. Altogether the whole site is expected to eventually include the whole 225 acres, as it is felt that this much will be needed to carry on the extensive experiments that the state has in hand. The land is now being tapped by canal and laterals and water is expected to be delivered for this year's crops.
“The board voted to accept the site offered contingent upon the citizens of Prosser raising $3,000 to begin the development of the site.”
The station Prosser bought with $3,000 of pledged private cash became the state's irrigated-agriculture research center, still operating a century later. The playbook — a town putting up its own money to win a public institution — is exactly what Benton County cities run today whenever a college branch, a laboratory or a rail terminal is up for grabs.
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