Since most of us peg 1874 as the year Mines was founded, this 1873 prospectus for the ‘School of Mines’ may provoke some head-scratching. Like every institution, Mines wasn’t created overnight. Formal efforts to establish a technical mining school in Colorado go back to 1866, when Bishop Randall arrived in the territory and recognized the need. His efforts led to the creation of the University Schools of Golden, which by 1873 encompassed Jarvis Hall, a college prep school; Matthews Hall, a divinity school; and the School of Mines, launched that same year to provide ‘instruction in sciences, connected with the development of the mineral wealth of the country.’ The territorial government officially acquired the School of Mines one year later, creating a stand-alone institution that was renamed Colorado Territorial School of Mines.
Current Issue: Spring 2024
