Image of Denver's Haish Manual Training School

The back cover of the 1889-90 NWU catalog | Courtesy of the Nebraska Wesleyan University Archives, Cochrane-Woods Library

"The above cut represents the building erected at Denver through the munificence of Mr. Jacob Haish, of DeKalb, Illinois, for the Haish Manual Training School of Denver University. Bishop Warren has secured from Mr. Haish an agreement to erect and endow a department for the Nebraska Wesleyan University, on similar terms as originally given to Denver University. One-half of the gross receipts from the sale of the Haish barb wire in the state of Nebraska is to be devoted to this department, until the sum of fifty thousand dollars has been secured. Thus the department of Technology, originally projected by the University, and published in the Prospectus, has been lifted from the realm of struggle into that of security, and was inaugurated formally by Bishop Warren, at Lincoln, June 18, 1889. For further particulars address the Chancellor.

Friends of the University will adopt as their motto: 'No fence but barb wire; no barb wire but Haish.'"

Haish Manual Training School - Denver

"Haish Manuel Training School - University of Denver." I purchased this photograph from eBay. The largest sign reads "HAISH MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL." The sign above the door reads "UNIVERSITY OF DENVER." Another sign reads "UNIVERSITY BUSINESS COLLEGE." | Courtesy of Jessi Haish LaRue

The Haish Manual Training School was built in Denver, Colorado, after a monetary donation from Jacob Haish.

According to this article, "the main building for the manual school was built at a cost of $25,000, the gift of Mr. Jacob Haish of De Kalb, Illinois ... Mr. Haish attended the commencement at Denver University last spring and was so well pleased with the school that he told Bishop Warren that he would give the university $15,000 for the medical department if that would be sufficient to build upon the vacant ground adjoining the manual training school ... It is built of brick and is three stories high with a basement. This makes a total gift of $40,000 by Mr. Haish to the university."

I reached out to the Special Collections and Archives department of the University of Denver to learn more, and they generously provided the below information and photographs of the building:

The school, which was located at the intersection of 14th Street and Arapahoe Street in downtown Denver, was only open from 1885-1892, and it was a high school for the first couple of years, they said. The building itself was later demolished in 1963.

As I've researched, there have been varying dates and purposes for the building. According to the Archives department's website, the school was located at 1025 14th Street in Denver, and the cornerstone was laid on July 13, 1887. 

"Building served multiple functions for the University of Denver, including residence of the Haish Manual Training School, University Business College, Dental College Infirmary, and Denver College of Pharmacy," according to the website.

The below photos, provided by the researchers at the University of Denver, are believed to be from a time after it was the "Haish Manual Training School." 

Students at the Haish Manual Training School building sit in windows and wave at the photographer. | Courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, University of Denver

Haish Manual Training School building in Denver. | Courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, University of Denver

Another great image of this building can be seen by clicking here.

But why Denver? Local historian Steve Bigolin believes Haish either sold a lot of his wire in Colorado, or that he wanted to expand his business prosperity to the West.

The Archives department also provided "a class listing likely from the late 1880s or early 1890s." The PDF can be viewed below.


Thank you so much to the University of Denver's Special Collections and Archives group for providing us with this wonderful information and imagery.