| 1866 |
The General Congregational Conference
of Minnesota, meeting in Faribault in October, votes to prepare articles
of incorporation for a college in Northfield. It is chartered formally
in December, bringing to fruition years of efforts by Charles M. Goodsell
and others. |
| 1867 |
American House is purchased as the first
home of "Northfield College." (Renamed Carleton College
in 1871.) The college sells it 1887. |
| 1869 |
The cornerstone is laid for the
first permanent building (future Willis Hall). |
| 1870 |
Rev. James W. Strong, a Beloit College graduate
serving as pastor to the Congregational church in Faribault, accepts
an invitation to become the College's first president.
|
| 1870 |
The "collegiate department" opens in
September with a class of four freshmen. |
| 1870 |
President Strong travels to New England on a fundraising mission
for the College. In December, following a visit with William Carleton
of Charlestown, Mass., Strong is seriously injured in a railway accident.
|
| 1871 |
Reportedly impressed by the almost miraculous survival of
Dr. Strong, William Carleton ensures the College's survival with
a $50,000 gift. An appreciative board of trustees renames the
College in his honor.
|
| 1872 |
The College's first building is completed.
It was named Willis Hall the following year in honor of Susan Willis
Carleton. |
| 1873 |
The Philomathian Society is the first
of many student "literary societies" organized on campus. |
| 1874 |
James J. Dow and Myra A. Brown are the first
two students awarded bachelor's degrees, giving commencement orations,
respectively, on "The Attainment of True Manhood" and "The Intellectual
Culture of Women." Six months later, on Christmas Day, they marry.
|
| 1876 |
Death of William Carleton and Susan Willis
Carleton. Joseph Lee Heywood, College treasurer, is murdered in the
Jesse
James Gang's raid on the First National Bank of Northfield. |
| 1877 |
First edition of the Carletonian
is issued by Philomathian Society |
| 1878 |
The first Carleton Observatory is built.
(Razed in 1905 to make way for Laird Hall.) |
| 1878 |
Inauguration of the Observatory's telegraph
time service, which eventually sets time for over 12,000 miles of
railroad across the Northwest. |
| 1879 |
The original Willis Hall destroyed by fire
in December. It is rebuilt the following year. |
| 1880 |
A Science Building erected - it is named
Williams Hall in 1883. |
| 1880 |
"Seccombe House," then west of the present
Chapel, is in use as a music hall, 1880-1914. |
| 1881 |
The Carleton Alumni
Association is formed. |
| 1881 |
Ladies Hall, a dormitory for
women is built. It is occupied in January 1883 and renamed Gridley
Hall in 1886. |
| 1882 |
Faculty bans "mixed" literary societies.
|
| 1882 |
William Wallace Payne, director
of the Carleton observatory, begins publication of the world's only
popular astronomical journal, The Sidereal Messenger. Later
he also founded Popular Astronomy, a Carleton-issued publication
destined to be the best-known journal in the field for half a century.
|
| 1885 |
Harlan W. Page is appointed financial
secretary, the College's first salaried officer not also a member
of the faculty. |
| 1886 |
Willis Bell chimes are donated by Robbins
Battell. |
| 1887 |
The New Observatory
opens; it is named for Charles M. Goodsell in 1891. |
| 1887 |
The Library
moves from Williams Hall to the Old Observatory. |
| 1887 |
Probable date of Carleton's first formal
intercollegiate athletic contest: a Carleton baseball teams beats
a St. Olaf nine in May. June brings the first of a long series of
annual spring "Field Days" which feature a variety of athletic competitions.
|
| 1889 |
First Algol was published..
|
| 1889 |
Maize is chosen as the school color |
| 1890 |
Limited electives are introduced for
juniors and seniors. |
| 1891 |
Tsune Watanabe, of Japan, graduates.
She is Carleton's first nonwestern student. |
