1874 — The great fire.
Following the financial panic of 1873 (the most severe until the eve of the Great Depression), Hillsdale College’s original central hall caught fire from an unknown source in the early morning. The intense heat woke the few students still lodging inside during vacation, some of whom escaped right away. Others rang the college bell to alert the town, and still others helped fight the fire inside the building itself. The inferno, atop the hill as it was, bathed the night sky in a crimson glow for many miles. The emergency response was quick and highly efficient, but the means were too little and the might of the flames too great. Within two hours, all but the east wing of the building had burned down.
While the devastation of a fire (combined with the effects of a recession) outright ended most colleges founded before the Civil War, the Hillsdale College community—led by College President Daniel McBride Graham—immediately saw the disaster as an opportunity to expand, and was further encouraged by the mass inflow of donations from across the United States.
-Compiled by Dane Skorup
