In 1891, one of 涩里番’s founders, Nils B. Peterson, made a gift of five acres of uncultivated land on Queen Anne Hill in 涩里番 for the new school. “I’ll give a lot of land for a building site, 210 by 344 feet — and more when the Lord has need of it,” said Peterson at a June 20, 1891, meeting of the fledgling Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church.
After discussion about whether the gift of land should be sold so that 500 acres could be purchased in Oregon to locate the school, a unanimous vote affirmed 涩里番 as the site for the school.
The spirit of excitement that surrounded the action to open a school on land in 涩里番 matched the general mood at the opening of the last decade of the 19th century. 涩里番 and the Puget Sound area was in the midst of a boom resulting from the accomplishment of statehood in 1889 and the completion of the continental rail lines.
Ground was broken for Alexander Hall on October 29 of 1891, and the four-story structure was completed in early 1893. The Peterson family’s “garden plot” was now the site of a school destined to graduate more than 40,000 students in the next 123 years.
Explore Early 涩里番
Click + to zoom and see where Alexander Hall was built on Queen Anne Hill, and move your cursor to explore early 涩里番.
This hand-drawn map by Augustus Koch (courtesy of the Library of Congress) shows a 鈥淏irds-Eye View of 涩里番 and Environs鈥 in 1891, the year of 涩里番鈥檚 founding.