Fort Hays State University: From Guardhouse to Classroom

Fort Hays State University was founded in nineteen oh two on the grounds of the abandoned frontier military post, with state legislators initially intending it to focus on agriculture. It opened instead as a normal school, a teacher's college, with a small first class that made use of the old fort's buildings.

The institution moved to its current campus nearer to town in nineteen oh four and went through several name changes before becoming Fort Hays State University in nineteen seventy-seven. Today it enrolls more than twelve thousand students, with a significant share attending through distance education programs that reach across the country. The original fort buildings still stand nearby as a state historic site, close to the university that grew up in their shadow.