It shares a name with the county it calls home and the famous river that flows to its north. St. Lawrence University in Canton holds 159 years of history on its campus. In this week's edition of Your Hometown, reporter Matt Jarchow found out how the school is preserving its past while moving toward the future.
ST. LAWRENCE, N.Y. -- This room holds the history of Saint Lawrence University -- all the way back to 1856, when it wasn’t even a university.
“The university was kind of an accident, the University we know today. By which I mean, the church leaders when they were beginning to train ministers through the theological school realized they didn’t have some of the background they need for theological study," said Neil Burdick, University magazine editor.
So they created a prep study that became St. Lawrence University, that now has 158 years of archived stories of the buildings and people that have been a part of the Univeristy.
“Owen D. Young, for whom the library is named…this could really be called Owen D. Young University in some ways. He was a major, major influence in the foundation of St. Lawrence," said Mark McMurray, University Archivist.
As chairman of the board, Young built many of today’s buildings on campus.
McMuray said Young formed today’s school as much as any one person, and his papers are just a fraction of the archives, where records go back much further than the school -- one book dating back to 1497.
“We’re preserving history of both the area, the county, the whole North Country really," said McMurray.
And of course, the University.
Where campus blends buildings old to new.
The look of campus is ever changing, but some things at St. Lawrence remain the same.
“What hasn’t changed is the nature of the place. It’s always been a welcoming community…Everybody here is dedicated to providing students the best experience they can, and that’s historic. That has not changed, "said Burdick.
Another constant the town of Canton, St. Lawrence calls home.
Since its arrival the school has helped the town, while the town has helped the school.
“St. Lawrence is an important part of the North Country as well as just of Canton. Partly because of the employment we provide but also partly because we have always drawn many of our students and many of our best students from the North Country," said Burdick.
Future students will come and go, while the school will remain.
“There’s a fine line between when something becomes a historical piece or when it’s needed for blueprints for a new dormitory being built," said McMurray.
Either way, it's sure to end up just another piece of history at St. Lawrence University.