University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College Park

The history of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at The University of Maryland is simply the history of the University itself. The University of Maryland was chartered in 1856 as the Maryland Agricultural College. Charles Benedict Calvert spent $21,000 to purchase 420 acres in College Park, Maryland, and later that year founded the college. The school opened on October 5, 1859 with a total of 34 students. In 1864, the state legislature designated it as a land grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862, which made federal funds available. By the end of the Civil War, the University, having been hit hard by financial problems and a decline in student enrollment, found itself bankrupt. The state legislature assumed half ownership of the school in 1866, which pulled the college out of bankruptcy, and made the college, in part, a state institution. Enrollment slowly increased at the University, and over the next 26 years Maryland gained a reputation as a strong research institution. The federally funded Agricultural Experiment Station was established under the Hatch Act of 1887, and new state laws granted the college regulatory control over several areas of agriculture and public safety. The school has grown over the years, adding several other academic departments. However, it still remains a land grant university, and continues to have a strong college of agriculture and natural resources. ()