Northern State University

Normal and Industrial School, proposed a bill to create the school in Aberdeen; the bill went through many revisions. On March 2, 1899, the new school existed on paper, but both a site and funding were still needed.
Wealthy Aberdonians quickly responded by donating land for the school; the Aberdeen City Council created a committee of 25 to choose the site. The committee comprised well-to-do citizens of Aberdeen, including Lawson, Ira Barnes, W.F.T. Bushnell, C.F. Easton, F.W. Brooks, Ed Askew, B.C. Lamont, William Tennant, W.G. Bickellhaupt, and Andrew Melgaard. The committee met through most of early 1899 and adjourned in late spring before making a decision. By late 1899 Governor Andrew E. Lee chose the land just south of city limits donated by Melgaard, but the northern border of Melgaard's land did not extend all the way to Twelfth Avenue, as Lee wanted; the land between Melgaard's northern border and Twelfth Avenue was owned by D.C. and W.R. Thomas of Watertown. In order for the state to receive the land, …