Colorado Agricultural College. which would eventually become Colorado State University, welcomed its first students in 1879.

Imagine attending the college in those early years: No Krazy Karl's, no Road 34, no Horsetooth Reservoir to relax at. You have to admire their desire for an education in agriculture.

Three years after opening, the school still only had two full-time faculty members and only 67 students of which, 24 of them, were women.

Charles Lory took the helm as the President of Colorado Agricultural College in 1909, and it was within his 30+ year term that the school became Colorado A & M in 1935. The Lory Student Center opened in 1962; Lory State Park was dedicated in 1975.

In 1957, under the presidency of Bill Morgan, the college was officially named Colorado State University. The Morgan Library on campus was dedicated in 1965, and heavily damaged in the Spring Creek Flood of 1997.

Colorado State University recently posted this archival photo of the campus near the Oval. A fun fact: The first Taste of Fort Collins events were held at the Oval. That would be many decades after this photo was taken.

CSU early years
Twitter; @ColoradoStateU
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CSU's history as an agricultural college is celebrated each year by the university's College of Agricultural Sciences with Ag Day.

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