UM was first housed at the old Willard School. The building had been condemned and Missoula citizens paid $5,000 to have it remodeled for University classes. The first classes on campus were held in 1899 in Main Hall and the Science Building. An early UM motto was “It Shall Prosper.”

A maypole dance on the Oval in the early 1900s.	Two lonely buildings in 1899--Main Hall and the Science Building.
Parade band on East Front Street (1900)	An aerial view of Missoula in 1957

Main Hall in winter 1947. Note the automobiles on the left.	By 1927 Missoula was moving closer to the University, but the president's house (behind the trees, left above center) still had two city blocks to itself.
The president’s house (large structure to the left of center) and University Avenue in 1904. The Lodge now stands at this location.

Tents housed soldiers during the First World War.	Pre-fab buildings were used in the early 1950s to house the overflow of young Americans who flocked to university campuses on the G.I. Bill.
A road, built for horse and buggy travel, ran around the Oval until 1958. In this photo, taken in 1913, automobiles line up for an Interscholastic meet.	An aerial view of campus in 1939.