University of Maine

possible locations for a normal school. Founded in 1864 as the state's first publicly funded normal school, the first class graduated from the Western State Normal School in 1866. Over the following hundred years, the school's name would change several more times: Northern State Normal School (1878), Farmington State Normal School (1889), Farmington State Teachers College (1945), and Farmington State College (1965).
Farmington State College was finally merged into the University of Maine System in 1968, initially known as the Farmington State College of the University of Maine, before taking on its current name in 1971.
Many early graduates attended the school for its liberal arts offerings alone. Among these were the Stanley brothers, famous for building the Stanley Steamer automobile, and John Frank Stevens, engineer of the Panama Canal. Comedian Bob Marley graduated with a degree in community health.
Interest in the liberal arts continued unabated, and the college offered its first degree programs in the liberal …