Old Main Building

On October 5th, 1852, the formal dedication of the building took palce and on March 29, 1853, the Michigan State Normal School opened its doors. The first term continued for seventeen weeks and the second one lasted twenty three weeks.

On Friday night, October 28,1859, the three-storey main building, with most of its contents was destroyed by fire. Nothing remained of the structure except the bare walls. Temporary quarters were provided at once, and the work of restoration was carried out with such energy that the restored building was ready for occupancy at the opening of the spring term in April 1960. Not only the external appearance of the building was changed, but the interior was also improved.

The Old Main Building, restored after the 1859 fire

In 1878 an addition was built to the front, a large part of the rear wall torn down and rebuilt, the roof raised to correspond to that of the addition, and the interior remodeled. The creation of the tower at the north-east corner was made possible by a donation of $2000 from the citizens of Ypsilanti. A rear addition over a 200 ft long and two stories high was erected in 1882.

The Old Main Building with a rear addition in 1882. It was used as the training school.

In 1888 the north and the south wings were added to the building.

The Old Main Building was expanded several times, concealing most features of the original structure. The building was later demolished after falling into disrepair.

Another View of the Building

Acomplete view of the Original Main Building