Michigan Tech had its beginnings in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School (MMS) offering a two-year mining program. The first classes were held in the Fall of 1886 in the Continental Fire Hall, which still stands next to the old Portage Lake District Library on Montezuma Avenue in downtown Houghton, MI. Course offerings in Physics, to be taught by the Physics Department, were listed starting in 1887 however there was not yet a Physics Department faculty to teach them. Those first Physics course offerings were to be "temporarily performed by the present members of the Faculty." As of 2009, the department continues its strong commitment to undergraduate education in basic physics for all MTU students, which goes back over 120 years, with strong Physics and Applied Physics majors added roughly 60 years ago, and a growing graduate and research program with firm roots just about 20 years ago. Through that time the people have changed several times over, the emphasis of the University has changed, and of course the Technology which we use and teach has grown tremendously. The current faculty are lucky to be able to build on what was developed in the past and, with luck, provide a springboard for the success of the as yet unknown MTU Physics faculty of the future. (excerpted from http://www.phy.mtu.edu/alumni/history/narrative.html, accessed 11/04/2009).