THE OLD UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
The old University of Chicago an educational institution at Chicago, under the care of the Baptist denomination, for some years known as the Douglas University.
Senator Stephen A. Douglas offered, in 1854, to donate ten acres of land in what was then near the southern border of the city of Chicago, as a site for an institution of learning, provided buildings costing $100,000 be erected thereon within a stipulated time. The corner stone of the main building was laid, July 4, 1857 but the financial panic of that year prevented its completion, and Mr. Douglas extended the time, and finally deeded the land to the trustees without reserve.
For eighteen years the institution led a precarious existence, struggling under a heavy debt. By 1885 mortgages to the amount of $320,000 having accumulated, the trustees abandoned further effort, and acquiesced in the sale of the property under foreclosure proceedings. The original plan of the institution contemplated preparatory and collegiate departments, together with a college of law and a theological school.