--- 1773 Gamaliel Painter, thirty-one years old, moves to the Middlebury area with his family.

---1787 Gamaliel Painter purchases a large tract of land on the east bank of Otter Creek, the future site of the commercial center of the town.

---1789 Darius Matthews and Samuel Miller, both twenty-three years old, move to Middlebury.

---1791 Burlington is selected as the site for the University of Vermont, largely due to a generous grant from politician Ira Allen, granted 28,000 acres of land. One of the founding principles of the University is religious freedom.

--- 1791-1800 Population increase in Vermont (from 84,000 to 154,000).

---1794 Seth Storrs, thirty-one years old, and Daniel Chipman, twenty-nine years old, move to Middlebury.

---1797 After achieving their goal of establishing Middlebury as the county seat, Painter, Matthews, Miller, Storrs and Chipman bid for the creation of a county grammar School. Middlebury is granted the grammar school by the 1797 General Assembly
although loses the bid to have the 1798 General Assembly convene in Middlebury.

---1798 Painter and other Middlebury leaders first petition the General Assembly for a college charter. They consult Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, on the creation of a college in Middlebury.

---1799 Jeremiah Atwater leaves his position as tutor at Yale College to become principal of the Addison County Grammar School.

--- 1800 Middlebury College founded. Jeremiah Atwater and fifteen Vermonters, including Gamaliel Painter, Samuel Miller, Darius Matthews, Seth Storrs and Daniel Chipman, were named the "President and Fellows" of the college.

--- 1800 The Philomathesian Society, a literary club, is organized. Open to all students it became a major source of extracurricular activities such as guest speakers and debates on political, social, moral and religious questions.

--- 1802 Arron Petty is Middlebury College's first graduate.

--- 1807 Emma Hart became principal of the Middlebury Female Academy, an innovative educational opportunity for girls.

--- 1809 Frederick Hall becomes Middlebury College tutor of mathematics and natural philosophy. Hall played integral role in developing sciences at Middlebury and bringing Henry Davis to the college.

--- 1809 The Philadelphian Society was established. It provided pious students with a forum to discuss religious questions, a popular extracurricular activity.

--- 1810 Henry Davis elected President of Middlebury College. Successful private fundraising during his presidency allows for construction of new college buildings.

---1810 "Moses Baker '13 and three other freshman engaged in an old variant of 'streaking'…they 'indulged themselves to excess in drinking, did strip themselves on public bridge'…all four were forced to confess in front of the entire student body" (Stameshkin, 106).

--- 1813 Middlebury College Charitable Society organized. It provided financial aid to students who wished to prepare for the ministry at Middlebury.

--- 1814, 1815, 1816 Middlebury College requests state loans, denied each time.

--- 1815 American Education Society (AES) was formed to help raise funds nationally and to help poor students attend educational institutions.

--- 1815 Painter Hall completed.

--- 1812-1839 John Hough comes to Middlebury College. A reverend and popular professor who held three different fellowships at the college.

--- 1817 Disastrous crop failure caused a serious decline in Middlebury's local economy and dealt a major blow to the college. President Davis resigns.

--- 1817 Reverend Joshua Bates elected as Middlebury College's third president.

--- 1818 - 1820-Unrest among the students with regard to the alleged "faculty favoritism toward the more religious students" (Stameshkin, 88).

--- 1819 Painter dies and leaves Middlebury College over thirteen thousand dollars, helping to alleviate the college's desperate financial troubles at the time.

--- 1820s College ardently attempts to establish a professorship of Chemistry and Natural History.

--- 1820 Middlebury College affiliates with Castleton Medical Academy, VT (has no official control over the academy). Castleton medical degrees were awarded by Middlebury College until 1827, when Castle acquired power to grant its own degrees.

--- 1821 Emma Willard establishes Female Seminary. She was a pioneer in women's education from 1807 to 1819.

--- 1822 Fifty Middlebury students petitioned to have the "once-admired" Professor Frederick Hall fired. Hall resigned, adding to the difficult times at the college that were already fueled by it precarious financial situation. Stameshkin writes, "In what may have been the first student petition that led to the dismissal of an American college professor, the students claimed that Hall was unjust, cruel, and imperious in his conduct" (60).

--- 1823 Alexander Twilight graduates and is the first African American to receive a baccalaureate degree at an American college.

--- 1825 Professorship of Chemistry established.

--- 1830 Enrollment at Middlebury increased, encouraging the growth of the college and construction of buildings. Student enrollment reaches a peak of 168 pupils in 1837.

--- 1825-1830 A strong reform sentiment at the college led to radical alterations in college curricula, it strayed from the classical curriculum. Changes included instruction in languages beyond Latin and Greek and more sciences. (76).

--- 1830 Middlebury was most populous town in Vermont.

--- 1830s During the 1830s, "tuition was $20 a year, room rent was $6 to $12, and free textbooks could be borrowed from the Beneficent Society Library." Its relative affordability made Middlebury attractive to many poor students. (Stameshkin, 96).

--- 1830-1831 The Undergraduate, an early student newspaper, was published.

--- 1833-1834 The Philomathesian, a literary magazine sponsored by the club of the same name, was published.

--- 1835 Professorship of English Literature and Education established at Middlebury College.

--- 1835-1836 "Old Chapel" constructed. It served predominantly as a meeting place for classes and activities. According to Stameshkin, "It was a vivid symbol of successful Middlebury" (66).

--- 1835-1840 Middlebury College suffers a disastrous decline fueled by a religious revival in November 1835 led by Jedidiah Burchard. The sorry state of the college included the "breakdown in student discipline, a bitter economic depression in the U.S., and faculty turnover" (Stameshkin, 126). Student enrollment at Middlebury College dropped drastically.

--- 1840 Benjamin Labaree Jr. elected as the fourth president of Middlebury College. President Labree was an avid fundraiser through some of Middlebury's most financially difficult times.

--- 1843 The college's trustees vote to embark upon a fifty thousand dollar fund drive to help ease the financial situation of the institution.

--- 1843 A chapter of Chi Psi fraternity is founded at Middlebury. This small secret society marks the beginning of the college's fraternity system, which dominates the social scene for a hundred years after the Civil War.

--- 1847 Financial situation at Middlebury College was critical. The college almost closed its doors.

---1900 Middlebury celebrates its semicentennial. More than 180 alumni attended the event, which sparked alumni support and interest in the future of their alma mater.

--- Mid 1850s Two more fraternities are established at Middlebury College, Delta Kappa Epsilon (Deke) and Delta Upsilon (DU).

--- 1861 Starr Hall built.

--- 1864 Starr Hall burns down. It is rebuilt in 1865 largely with the help of the community, which serves as evidence that town-gown relations remained strong.

--- 1863-1865 Middlebury contemplates combining resources with UVM and Norwich University to create one state university in Vermont. Middlebury chooses to remain independent.

--- 1865 First issue of the Kaleidoscope, Middlebury's yearbook, published.

--- 1866 Middlebury's fifth president, Harvey D. Kitchel, is elected.

--- 1870s Members of the fraternities began to use boats "to take out the maidens of Middlebury on Otter Creek." As one student observed, "Town girls' take a lively interest in the men's societies-all the more because they know so little about them" (Stameshkin, 177).

--- 1870s Rise of the "college hunt." Stameshkin writes, "teams of students competed to see who could bring in the most game in a short period of time, and a lively dinner followed after the day's shooting" (172).

--- 1875 Calvin Butler Hulbert succeeds Kitchel as the sixth president of Middlebury.

--- 1876 The Undergraduate is published (again!) and is the primary school newspaper. It ends publication in 1902.

--- 1879 Student revolt. Student-faculty dispute over the punishment of a disobedient sophomore (playing football between college buildings) results in a massive student strike at Middlebury College. The student revolt was a major cause of the unusually high faculty turnover that year, as faculty-student relations were not as close as they had once been.

--- 1880 Cyrus Hamlin elected as Middlebury College's seventh president. Hamlin was fundamental in making many improvements to the college facilities, most notably a new and larger library completed in June 1881.

--- 1881 Portion of Painter Hall renovated to make a college gymnasium. Baseball and football made their first appearances on the Middlebury campus and intramural games were organized.

--- 1883 Women admitted to Middlebury College.

--- 1884 Middlebury organized an Athletic Association, prompted by students' increasing and new interest in sports.

--- 1885-1886 Ezra Brainerd became president of Middlebury College and modernized its curriculum and buildings during his presidency. Brainerd's two main goals as president were to increase enrollment and to improve Middlebury's financial situation.

--- 1886 May Belle Chellis was Middlebury College's first female graduate and class valedictorian.

--- 1888 Vermont votes to give Middlebury College state funds to allocate as student scholarships.

--- 1889 The first sorority, Alpha Chi, is formed on Middlebury's campus. There were four sororities organized on campus by 1917.

--- 1890 A significant number of elective courses offered at Middlebury, a slightly controversial change from the college's traditional classical liberal arts education.

--- 1890 Increased enrollment at Middlebury College, this trend continued for years.

--- 1890 Glee Club begins.

--- 1891 Battell Hall becomes Middlebury's first women's dormitory.

--- 1892 Charles J. Starr gives Middlebury College a check for sixty thousand dollars for
the college's permanent fund.

--- 1894 Starr leaves Middlebury College one hundred and fifty thousand dollars upon his
death.

--- 1897 Egbert Starr dies and leaves Middlebury College fifty thousand dollars.

--- 1893 Phi Beta Phi sorority and baseball team formed.

--- 1900 Starr Library completed for the centennial of Middlebury College.. It housed Middlebury's growing book collection.

--- 1901 Warner Science Hall built.

--- 1902 Increasing female enrollment prompts Middlebury to establish a separate, yet affiliated women's college, officially known as the Women's College at Middlebury.

--- 1903 The college revised its honors program and decided that all graduates from Middlebury would receive an A.B. degree.

--- 1904 Beginning of separate recitation for male and female students.

--- 1905 Middlebury Campus is published, resurrecting the school newspaper.

--- 1905 Establishment of the Commons Club and later the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity

--- 1905 Over 80 percent of men at Middlebury joined fraternities, which were a major part of social life at the college.

--- 1908 John Martin Thomas elected president of Middlebury College. As president, Thomas raised a tremendous amount of money, notably from wealthy men such as D. K. Pearsons and John G. McCullough. With these abundant funds he greatly expanded the size of the college.

--- 1909 Joseph Battell, a local wealthy Middlebury alumnus, gave the college thirty-five acres of land and several buildings.

--- 1909-1910 McCullough Gym constructed to satisfy growing interest in athletics . The college's first athletic director, Ray L. Fisher, was appointed this year as well.

--- 1909-1910 Stameshkin writes, "For the first time in the college's history, more women than men were enrolled" (239). He notes that in the fall of 1909, "[President] Thomas learned that the General Education Board might reject Middlebury's application for funds because it appeared to be in danger of becoming a women's college" (239).

--- 1911 Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity founded.

--- 1911 Pearson Hall is completed on the women's campus.

--- 1912 McCullough Gymnasium is constructed. Due to a generous donation from William H. Porter, Porter Field is designed. A student government for the men's college is formed.

--- 1912 Women's Athletic Association founded.

--- 1913 Establishment of the Inter-fraternity Council.

--- 1913 Students first get the ability to choose majors and minors after completing freshman requirements. A student government for the women's college is formed.

--- 1914 Dr. John Mead pledges to build a new chapel for the college. A. Barton Hepburn pledges to provide a men's dormitory and a dining room. These new buildings were constructed in 1915-16.

--- 1914 The Middlebury Union and the Women's Student Government Association were organized as student governments. The Union was originally formed with the intent of unifying the men at Middlebury, who were highly competitive due to fraternity ties and loyalties.

--- 1915 President Thomas began an ambitious seven-year building program that included Mead Chapel and a new modern dormitory.

--- 1915 Joseph Battell bequeaths his estate to Middlebury College.

Reference:
Stameshkin, David. The Town's College: Middlebury College, 1800-1915. Middlebury: Middlebury College Press, 1985.