Central Michigan University is rooted in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, home to 26,000 people and growing. Mount Pleasant feels like a classic college town, with a blend of natural features, exciting developments and small-town life. Nature buffs enjoy the 80-mile-long Chippewa River, which runs right through Mount Pleasant, and the city's seven parks are loved by people of all ages. Mission Street features many popular big box stores and chain restaurants, while downtown Mount Pleasant offers boutiques and intimate restaurants. Central opened its doors in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute. At that time, few of the state's teachers received any formal training in teaching. School founders made teacher training their mission in founding the state's second normal school. Thirty-one students attended classes in second-floor rooms over an office on the corner of Main and Michigan streets in downtown Mount Pleasant. Most students at the time were eighth-grade graduates, attending the "Normal" for a few weeks or months prior to beginning their careers as teachers. Within the first two years, land was acquired and a $10,000 Normal School Building was constructed where Warriner Hall now stands. In 1895, the Michigan State Board of Education assumed control of the school, renaming it Central Michigan Normal School. By 1918, the campus consisted of 25 acres with five buildings, one of which — Grawn Hall — is still in use, though substantially remodeled. Historic Labratory PhotoA fire destroyed the school's main building in 1925, and Warriner Hall was built to replace it. Prior to World War II, the school's name changed again — first to Central State Teachers College, then to Central Michigan College of Education. On June 1, 1959, with 40 buildings standing on a 235-acre campus and an enrollment of 4,500 students, Central was renamed Central Michigan University, a designation that reflected growth in the complexity of the school's academic offerings as well as its physical growth in the post-war period.
