The Nebraska Normal College was founded on this site in 1891 as a private institution. It was largely the creation of one man, Professor James M. Pile. The State Legislature in 1909 appropriated funds to purchase the campus, and in 1910 the College opened under State auspices. Its original mission was the same as that of its predecessor college--teacher education in a two-year curriculum. Wayne State College became a four-year degree granting institution in 1921. It has since expanded its program to include study leading to liberal arts and Master's degrees. The cornerstone nearby came from the Commerce and Arts Building, which was located in the vicinity of this marker. The bell came from the first building of the Nebraska Normal College. John G. Neihardt, later Poet Laureate of Nebraska, rang this bell in the 1890's to signal times for dismissal and convening of classes. With this employment he earned most of his college expense money. In its present location the bell was rung for many years to announce victories in inter-collegiate athletics. Wayne State College is proud of its graduates, among them outstanding educators, members of the United States Congress, and a governor of Nebraska.
]]>Wayne, the county seat of Wayne County, was laid out by the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad in June 1881. City and county were named for "Mad" Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary War general. The first settlers arrived in the eastern part of the county in 1868. Some were homesteaders; the first claim was that of Colonel B. F. Whitten near Wakefield in that year. Much of the unbroken prairie land was bought by land speculators, some of it for as little as fifty cents per acre, and sold again to settlers.
When the county was organized in 1870, LaPorte, about six miles southeast of Wayne, was named the county seat. The railroad was extended through the county in 1881-1882 but missed LaPorte and passed through Wayne. The settlers voted to move the county seat and LaPorte became a ghost town.
Wayne has had a college since 1887, when the Lutheran Academy was established. Classes were conducted there until 1890. Nebraska Normal College was founded in 1891 with Professor James M. Pile of Fremont as president. John G. Neihardt, Poet Laureate of Nebraska, was one of the early students. In 1909 the school was purchased by the state and continued as a teachers college. Since 1963 it has been called Wayne State College.
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