This timeline was created in celebration of SUNY Potsdam's bicentennial in 2016. All information and content comes courtesy of the College Archives and Special Collections and the Potsdam Public Museum. Very special thanks to Archivist Emerita Jane Subramanian '72, Virginia Rose Cayey '60 and Crane School of Music Professor Emerita Robyn Hosley, without whose research this timeline would not have been possible.
The place we now call Potsdam, N.Y., was inhabited for many thousands of years -- long before European settlers arrived in the Americas.
NYS Legislature passes act allowing for sale of lands available for settlement and establishing commission.
Board passes resolution creating 10 towns bordering the St. Lawrence River.
After Macomb sold most of the 10 towns to the Constables, they sold the soon-to-be Town of Potsdam to David M. Clarkson & Garret Van Horne.
Surveyors visit the 10 towns, including Potsdam, for the first time since the purchase.
The Clarksons' land agent, Benjamin Raymond, arrives in Potsdam, soon followed by the first family.
The Town of Potsdam is established, with Benjamin Raymond serving as Town Supervisor.
Potsdam residents construct the first public building, which served as the school and church - and later housed the Academy as well, on Union Street.
The Rev. James Johnson was Potsdam's first pastor and its first teacher, serving out of the building that would later house the St. Lawrence Academy as well.
Funds are raised to establish the St. Lawrence Academy by Potsdam residents.
The formal petition to establish the St. Lawrence Academy in Potsdam, N.Y., is submitted to the New York State Board of Regents.
St. Lawrence Academy is officially founded and the first Board of Trustees is established.
Forty-two students arrived, and the first classes began at St. Lawrence Academy.
Nahum Nixon, a graduate of Middlebury College, served as the first preceptor and only teacher for St. Lawrence Academy in its first year, leaving in 1817.
Levi S. Ives served as the second preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy, from 1819 to 1923.
In the early to mid-1800s, student life at St. Lawrence Academy was limited and rules of conduct were strictly enforced.
Charles Orvis served as the third preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy for just one year, from 1823 to 1824.
The Rev. Daniel Banks served as the principal of St. Lawrence Academy from 1824 to 1827.
A new four-story sandstone building opens to house the growing St. Lawrence Academy.
Joseph Hopkins served as principal of St. Lawrence Academy for one year, from 1827 to 1828.
The Rev. Asa Brainerd is named preceptor, and begins to offer special training and a pioneering curriculum for training teachers at the St. Lawrence Academy.
The first music teacher is hired at St. Lawrence Academy.
St. Lawrence Academy is designed as one of eight academies across New York State to receive $500 each for the preparation of teachers.
Needing more space for the growing institution, the South Academy is constructed beginning in 1836, on South (now Main) Street. It opens in 1837.
William H. Parker served as preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy from 1847 to 1849.
William F. Bascom served as preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy from 1849 to 1853.
The Rev. Elijah W. Plumb served as preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy, twice. His first stint was from 1853 to 1854, followed by a year in which Henry B. Buckham took the helm. Rev. Plumb returned in 1855 and led the Academy for another decade.
Henry B. Buckham served as preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy for just one year, from 1854 to 1855.
Following Elijah Plumb's tenure as preceptor, A.P. Bissell served as preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy for one year, from 1865 to 1866.
George H. Sweet served as the last preceptor of St. Lawrence Academy, as the institution fought to receive state support to become a Normal School.
Potsdam was selected as the location of one of the four State Normal Schools established under Chapter 466, Laws of 1866, along with Normal Schools in Cortland, Brockport and Fredonia.
St. Lawrence Academy officially becomes Potsdam Normal School. New York State purchases the campus lands and buildings.
The new Potsdam Normal School opens its doors, after the old North and South Academy buildings were torn down to make way for a new facility.
Malcolm MacVicar served as the first president of Potsdam Normal School from 1869 to 1880.
The first Potsdam Normal School class graduates, with two members.
The Alumni Association is founded.
The Normal Conservatory of Music is thought to have been established at Potsdam Normal School.
Hired in 1869 as principal of the Intermediate Department, Amelia Morey was later named the Preceptress of the School of Practice.
Fred Herrington was the organizer of the first Potsdam Normal School Orchestra.
Thomas J. Morgan served as president of Potsdam Normal School from 1881 to 1884.
Potsdam Normal School hires an accomplished young graduate, Julia Etta Crane, as the head of the music department.
E.H. Cook served as president of Potsdam Normal School from 1884 to 1889.
Julia Crane establishes the first special music teachers' curriculum, and incorporates the Crane Normal Institute of Music.
Dr. Thomas B. Stowell served as president of Potsdam Normal School for a decade, from 1889 to 1909.
At the close of the 19th century, student life at Potsdam Normal rigidly adhered to rules of conduct. Even so, students found time for social clubs and outings.
The Class of 1892 donates a statue of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, to Potsdam Normal School.
The Phoenix Club women's chorus is formed at the Crane Normal Institute of Music.
A home is purchased to house the Crane Normal Institute of Music.
The first alumni newsletter, The Normal Magazine, was published in March 1897. Julia Crane was the first editor.
The first train station was built in Potsdam in 1854, and New York Central built a new sandstone depot in 1914.
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