Dakota Agricultural College. Boarding Club

Founded in 1881, the college opened its first building, Old Central, in 1883. During these formative decades, campus infrastructure was limited, and student housing options were modest. In many land-grant institutions of the era, boarding clubs were student-organized cooperatives in which members pooled resources to secure lodging and meals at lower cost. These arrangements often operated independently of formal university oversight and were created out of economic necessity, particularly for students from rural backgrounds.