PPT Slide
In order to improve educational opportunities for the citizens of eastern Idaho--especially in technical/mechanical education—state senator Theodore F. Turner introduced a bill in the Idaho Legislature in 1901 to create “The Academy of Idaho at Pocatello,” if suitable land could be identified on which to locate the new school.
Bitter in-fighting and factionalism between western and eastern real estate interests in the city nearly scotched the plans, but eventually a site was located and by fall of 1902, the Academy of Idaho opened its doors. The three-story Main Building was steam heated, lighted with electricity, and “furnished and equipped throughout with the very best and latest furniture.” A boys’ dormitory was added by 1903. By 1906, a girl’s dormitory had also been added which housed a dining hall that seated 150 students.
ISU historian Merrill Beal has described the Academy as “essentially a secondary school with a downward grasp and an upward reach.” Courses were predominately vocational (58) as opposed to college preparatory (6). 80 percent of the first students were from Pocatello.