School District of River Falls history

They built the first commercial structure in 1852.

In 1854, the Powell brothers laid out and platted the first section in the village - 60 acres on the east side of the town they named the village of Kinnickinnic.

The first was built in 1855 by C. B. Cox, who later build another mill known as Prairie Mill, located on the west side of North Main Street.

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls was founded in 1874 as the fourth State Normal School in Wisconsin and the first in the northwestern part of the state.

When the original Normal School building was destroyed by fire in 1897, other communities sought to have the school moved.

But the citizens of River Falls were determined to retain it, and the building now known as South Hall was completed in 1898.

The school experienced a slow but steady growth in curriculum and enrollment until 1912, when the Department of Agriculture was established and enrollment leaped.

In 1951, with the addition of liberal arts courses, the school was designated Wisconsin State College at River Falls.

In the early 1960's the east wing was added to the building.

When graduate courses were added in 1964 the name became Wisconsin State University-River Falls.

The present name came with the merger of the state universities and the University of Wisconsin in the fall of 1971.

The third addition to Greenwood was in the early 1990's and included a north wing, which currently houses third grade, gym, media center, and remodeling of several classrooms and offices.

South Hall, built on the site of the original Normal School, received a major renovation during 1992-93.

The Ames Teacher Education Center was then demolished and construction was begun on a new University Center (Student Center) in spring 2005.