The year was 1862. The world was ablaze. Sparked by an ember, a fire began in a covered rail bridge that crossed the Hudson. In hours, it was clear to all that Troy was doomed. In those days of wood construction, everything was flammable. The slightest coal, if left unattended, spelled disaster for anything and everything around it. Just as London fell in 1666, so did Troy burn to the ground on that Saturday, May 10.
Overnight, the students at the Rensselaer Institute found themselves without a school. Quick thinking on the parts of the trustees got classes to resume in short order at the Vail House (which is now part of Russell Sage College) and at Troy University (which no longer exists). With the students thus taken care of, the trustees debated where the school should end up next.
Initially, plans were discussed to move Rensselaer to New York City, to join Columbia University. Thankfully, the trustees rejected that proposal and went about fundraising. With a Herculean effort, considering the state of the economy and the presence of the Civil War, the board members raised $44,000 for a new building. They acquired some prime real estate and in 1864 the Main Building was constructed. Four stories tall, made of brick and limestone, the first hilltop facade towered over Troy. It proved to all doubters that Rensselaer’s educational folly was here to stay.
The Main Building was both a testament to the dedication and perseverance of the trustees. It housed everything the school needed, including the library, assembly hall, lecture and recitation rooms, drawing rooms, laboratories, and natural specimens. Its construction was a rousing success. The institution that would be RPI now had a home. The school no longer occupied others’ quarters; it no longer depended on the goodwill of landowners, or, worse yet, their families. The building, constructed in record time considering the conditions, was used as it was meant to be. There were no odd spaces left over from a rushed retrofit. It was what it was intended to be—a top-notch institute for higher education.
The trustees’ enthusiasm skyrocketed upon realizing their lofty goals were achievable. Within two years, a second building joined the first one. Built three stories tall of brick and finished internally with black alnut, the Winslow Chemical Laboratory held metallurgical and chemical labs, a lecture hall, and a recitation room. Each lab accommodated 40 students and was supported by a library of newly acquired chemical manuals.
The Winslow Building holds a special place in RPI history. It is the oldest building on campus constructed for the school and still in active use. It has had its share of troubles—fires and threats of demolition—and yet it remains. It now houses the Social and Behavioral Research Laboratory. In the years that followed, RPI would blossom with new buildings and an ever-increasing population.
