Washington State Normal School (Ellensburg, Wash.)

In 1889 the United States Congress authorized the residents of Washington Territory to form a state government. One provision of that authorization was Section 17 of the Enabling Act, which granted additional lands owned by the United States government to the state for the establishment and maintenance of state normal schools. Those additional lands were to be held, appropriated, and disposed of exclusively for the specified purposes and in the manner that the state legislature might provide. The Washington State Legislature in 1889 and 1890 enacted a law (Session Laws of the State of Washington, Chapter 14: “School Lands; Sale and Lease,” Section 10) whereby the counties would inspect and “appraise the value of such stone, mineral or timber” of school lands to be sold.

From the guide to the Washington State Normal School Accounting Office, Inspection Assessment and Sale Register, 1892-1897, (Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections)

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