Horace Mann’s vision for state-funded normal schools was so popular that it quickly outgrew its original walls.
Here is the journey to its permanent home:
📍 1839 – Lexington: Opened as the nation’s first state-supported normal school, but rapidly ran out of space.
📍 1844 – West Newton: Relocated to handle the booming enrollment.
📍 1853 – Framingham: Finally settled on Bare Hill. Framingham offered a roomy, picturesque campus that could support generations of future educators.
Today, that vision lives on at Framingham State University, the oldest public university in the U.S. founded for teacher education!
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