Michigan Tech had been founded in Houghton, Michigan, 1885 as the Michigan Mining School.
After much agitation by Jay Abel Hubbell, the state legislature had established the school to train mining engineers.
Hubbell had donated land for the school's first buildings.
The school starts with four faculty members and twenty-three students.
It will be housed in the Houghton Fire Hall from 1886 through 1889.
