UW kicks off year of 150th-anniversary events

In 1861, 28 years before Washington became a state, the smattering of people who lived here decided that the territory needed a university. On 10 acres of donated land in downtown Seattle, the school that would later become the University of Washington was created.

On Tuesday, the UW launched a school-year-long celebration of its founding 150 years ago. The kickoff took place at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle, the approximate location of the UW's first building.