In 1871, Calvin Woodward, one of the developers of the Manual Training School, asked his applied mechanics students to build some models for the class. He was shocked when they turned him down because they didn't know how to use the appropriate tools. So Woodward asked Noah Dean, the University carpenter and mechanic, to outfit a shop (above) where students could learn basic skills such as carpentry, wood turning, blacksmithing and light machine work. Soon the program blossomed and outgrew its first small shop and graduated to three floors of an old mansion near campus. A new school was constructed that would operate under the auspices of the Polytechnic Department, and it opened in 1880 at the corner of 18th and Washington avenues in St. Louis. The Polytechnic Department later merged with the College — the University's liberal arts division — to form one Undergraduate Division.
Washington University is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2003-04.
