Do You Know Which College in New Hampshire is Older Than the Country?

New Hampshire has over 20 colleges and universities, but only one is actually older than the country.

That would be Dartmouth College. According to Seacoast Online, New Hampshire's first school was founded seven years before the country. Dartmouth is an Ivy League school in the small town of Hanover.

When was Dartmouth College Founded in Hanover, New Hampshire

It was founded in 1769. When you are that old and are still around, you've gone through a thing or two. This school survived the Revolutionary War! It was founded by a minister from Connecticut. Reverand Eleazer Wheelock wanted the college to be named after New Hampshire Governor John Wentworth who gave the land grant. Gov. Wentworth, however, wanted it to be named for his friend, the Earl of Dartmouth who was the checkbook behind getting the school built.

Dartmouth College is one of only nine colonial colleges to be founded before the American Revolution, and it is the only one that continued teaching through the war. It even survived a court case going all the way to the Supreme Court challenging the school to become a state university. They won that court case in the 1800s.

Learning by history - not repeating it

Dartmouth College in the 70s realized that in nearly 200 years of existence, only 20 Native American students had graduated. Then President of Dartmouth, John Kemeny established the Native American Program in 1972. Since then more than 1,200 Native Americans have graduated from the Ivy League school. Today Dartmouth College remains one of the most prestigious schools in the country.