1864
- Nevada entered statehood with a constitution providing for a state university.
1873
- Governor R. Bradley signed a legislative bill locating the University in Elko.
1874
- University Preparatory School opened in Elko with seven students.
1885
- Governor Jewett Adams signed a legislative bill moving the University to Reno. Morrill Hall opened.
1886
- The University formally reopened as a preparatory school in the new Morrill Hall on the Reno campus. Classes began with 75 students enrolled.
1887
- The administration of President LeRoy D. Brown, the University’s 1st president, began.
- Fifty students enrolled in the 1887-1888 academic year for the first year of college-level instruction.
- President Brown and Hannah K. Clapp began as faculty, hiring two additional faculty members within the first year.
1888
- The School of Mines launched, with Robert D. Jackson, Ph.D., as director.
- Following the provisions of the Morrill Act, and with the support of Congress, the University established the Agricultural Experiment Station.
1890
- Stephen A. Jones, the University’s 2nd president, began his term on January 6.
1891
- Frederick Bristol, Henry Colman Cutting, and Frank Norcross received the first three college degrees in the School of Liberal Arts.
- McKissick Opera House in Reno hosted the first graduation exercises.
1892
- The Schools of Mines and Agriculture graduated their first classes.
- Electric lights were installed on campus.
- Blanche Davis became the first woman to graduate from the University. Along with three other people, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
1893
- The first issue of the student newspaper, The Student Record, appeared on October 19.
1894
- Joseph Edward Stubbs, the University’s 3rd president, began his tenure on July 1st.
- Students formed the Independent Association of the University of Nevada.
- University graduates organized the Alumni Association of the University of Nevada.
1895
- The Mining Analytical Laboratory launched an assay service for citizens of the state.
- The University established a preparatory department and University High School.
1896
- The first freestanding dormitory, Lincoln Hall, opened as a men’s dormitory.
- Manzanita Hall opened as the first women’s dormitory.
1898
- An intercollegiate men's football team began competing.
1899
- This year marked the first appearance of the University’s yearbook, The Artemisia.
- The University adopted silver and blue as the school colors.
- Washoe County presented the University with a sixty-acre farm valued at $12,000 to be used in connection with the Agricultural Experiment Station.
![Photograph of print of L. R. Bradley, second Governor of Nevada](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/broadhorns-bradley.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRS-P1099-1.
![This photograph from 1874 shows a building at the university's original location in Elko, Nevada.](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/university-of-nevada-at-elko.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRA-P245-1.
![This portrait shows Dr. Leroy D. Brown who was the first president of the University of Nevada from 1887 to 1889.](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/university-president-leroy-brown.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRA-P130-1.
![Portrait of Hannah K. Clapp.](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/hannah-clapp.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRA-P174-01.
![The first three students to graduate from the University of Nevada are photographed here from left to right: Frank H. Norcross, Fred C. Bristol, and Henry Cutting.](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/class-of-1892-commencement.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRA-P416-1.
![Joseph E. Stubbs, President of the University of Nevada (president from 1894-1914) stands to the left of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt with other unidentified men and children next to them.](/libraries/images/galleries/University%20timeline/1864-1899/joseph-stubbs-president-theodore-roosevelt.jpg)
Special Collections and University Archives Photograph Collection, UNRA-P3096-1.