Founded in 1866 as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, the University of New Hampshire was one of the early land-grant institutions established to serve the sons and daughters of farming and laboring families.

First situated in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, New Hampshire College moved to its Durham campus in 1893 after Benjamin Thompson, a prosperous farmer, bequeathed land and money to further the development of the college.