15, Halls, Girls' entrance, and main entrance. 16, 17, Girls' Cloak Rooms.

18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, School. 24, Hall, rooms graded, 40 pupils each. 25. Boys' Hall. 26, 27, Boys' Cloak Rooms.

1, 2, Privies for Girls. 3, Halls to Privies for Girls. 4, 5, 6, &c., &c. Cellars and Furnaces. 13, 14, Privies for Boys. 12, Halls to Privies for Boys.

Fig. 5. BASEMENT OF MODEL SCHOOL.

2

41, Room for Drawing, lighted from the Dome. 42, Hall and Stairways. 43, Great Lecture Room of the Normal School establishment, 56 by 75 feet. 44, Hall. 45, Laboratory.

28, Girls' Cloak Room. 29, Library. 30, Girls' Hall and Stairways. 31, 32, 33, &c., &c., School Rooms, graded, 40 pupils each. 37, Hall. Hall and Stairways. 39, 40, Boys' Cloak Rooms.

38, Boys'

Fig. 8. THIRD STORY.-MODEL SCHOOL

ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

AT NORMAL, MACLEAN COUNTY.

The State Normal University owes its existence to a deep-seated conviction of the want of more well-instructed teachers for the free schools of Illinois. The question of establishing a school of some kind to supply this want, had been discussed by the leading educators of the State for several years; but the project of establishing a distinct and separate Normal School, first assumed a definite form at the annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association, at Chicago, in Dec. 1856.

After a protracted debate, a resolution unanimously prevailed, asking the Legislature to make an appropriation for the establishment and maintenance of a Normal School, and Messrs. WRIGHT, WILKINS and ESTABROOK were directed to lay the subject before the Legislature, on behalf of the Association. The late Superintendent of Public Instruction, Hon. N. W. Edwards, in his Report to the Legislature for 1856, recommended the establishment of such a school, and aided the project by his presence and influence. HON. WILLIAM A. POWELL, the new Superintendent, labored heartily for the enterprise. These gentlemen were met by a liberal spirit on the part of both Houses, especially the Educational Committees, and an act was drafted, discussed and passed, establishing and endowing a NORMAL UNIVERSITY, and creating a State Board of Education, under whose control it should go into operation.

The act provides that the avails of the Seminary and University funds, ($300,000) shall be appropriated for the support of the Institution, but no part thereof can be used in purchasing a site or erecting buildings. The Board were instructed to locate the University in that city or town, accessible, and not otherwise objectionable, which should offer the greatest donation. It was understood that the central portions of the State were "accessible," and there competition ran high. At first almost every enterprising town in the interior took the initiatory steps toward making a bid; but some time before the day for opening the proposals, it was whispered round that Bloomington and Peoria were ahead of all competitors. Most of the smaller towns declined to submit their proposals, and the contest virtually lay between the two cities. The Board of Education, in a body, visited these points and examined the sites offered. The site at Bloomington consisted in two tracts of rolling prairie, one of 56, the other of 104 acres, connected by a narrow neck and lying about a mile and a half north of the city, near the junction of the railroads. The site at Peoria consisted of fifteen acres of land lying on the bluff, just back of and overlooking the city, and affording, doubtless, the most varied prospect in the State.

Upon opening the bids, it was found that Peoria had offered in the aggregate, including the estimated value of the site, over $80,000; and

In this story, (Fig. 2,) are the Janitor's House, (1,) consisting of a parlor, kitchen, cellar, three bedrooms, etc.; storage room, (2); laboratory, (3); chemical-lecture room (4); boys' play-room for Model School (5); boiler or furnace rooms (6); girls' playroom for Model School (7); corridor (8); filtering cisterns (9); and stairways (10).