Timeline - June 16, 1855
On June 16, 1855, the Michigan State Agricultural Society executive committee selected a 676 57/100th acre tract for the campus, and called it "...a judicious and admirable location." The college grounds were located three and one-half miles directly east of the State Capitol Building, right down from what is now Michigan Avenue. Members of the committee were A.Y. Moore, president; J.C Holmes, secretary; S.M. Bartlett; Payne K. Leach; James Bayley; Justus Gage; and John Starkweather.
In the center of the college land was the farm of B. Robert Burcham. Burcharm had built a log cabin in 1851 on the site of the present Music Building and had cleared three acres of land, which was later used as an athletic and drill field. This is now Walter Adams Field (formerly Landon Field), where the MSU Marching Band does its pre-game warm-ups on football Saturdays.
From The Spirit of Michigan State, by J. Bruce McCristal
