VA-I2A Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Marker text: VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Five miles south lies the main campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, founded in 1872 as a land-grant college specializing in agriculture and mechanical arts. The land-grant college system initiated scientific agricultural and industrial instruction in the Commonwealth. Over the next century, Virginia Tech became nationally recognized as a comprehensive research university with a broad range of scientific, technological, business, and liberal arts instruction. The 3,000-acre campus includes the site of Draper's Meadow, where Shawnee Indians attacked settlers on 30 July 1755 at the beginning of the French and Indian War.

Department of Historic Resources, 1998