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About

Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) is a public university in Alva, Oklahoma, with satellite campuses in Enid and Woodward. It offers both bachelor's and master's degrees.

In 1897, a normal school, or school for teachers, was established in Alva by an act of the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature. It was the second normal school in Oklahoma, charged with preparing teachers to serve the many one-room schoolhouses that covered the prairie. It was called the Northwestern Territorial Normal School. The new school's faculty consisted of the school's first president, James E. Ament, and two teachers. Classes were held in the Congregational Church until construction of the first building, the "Castle on the Hill", was complete on September 20, 1897.

In 1902 biology department head, Professor G.W. Stevens, established The Museum of Natural History at the school. The museum contains a large collection of biological specimens native to Oklahoma, as well as hundreds of Alaskan mammal and bird specimens collected by Stevens during a seven-month trip in 1908. The museum was closed from January 1975 to September 3, 1997, opening after extensive restoration efforts were performed. The museum is located on the second floor of the Jesse Dunn Building, and is the second oldest museum in Oklahoma.

The "Castle on the Hill", 1901

The school became a four-year teachers college in 1919 and changed its name to Northwestern Oklahoma Teachers College. The school expanded in 1939 to include degrees in liberal arts as well as education, and its name changed again, to Northwestern State College. The final name change occurred in 1974 when the school was given its present name.