On September 28, 1914, only 21 students on opening day, 27 by semester end attended classes at the State School of Mines and Metallurgy. This occurred only six months after El Paso Chamber President Robert Krakauer announced that funding had been secured through the work of over 50 firms and individuals. However, two years later, the 34-room Main Building located at Ft. Bliss was destroyed by a fire. This left Dean Steve Howard Worrell to lead the administration in search of a new site, which became a 22.9 acre area near the Rio Grande River in the western foothills of the Franklin Mountains.