Prior to the completion of Hall of Languages in 1873, classes were held in a rental property in downtown Syracuse. The college's curriculum steadily expanded over the years, such as the establishment of biology and geology department in 1891, the predecessor of today's department of biology and department of earth and environmental sciences. Construction of the Physics Building, which was partially funded by a $1.58 million National Science Foundation grant, was completed in 1967 to house the growing physics department.
