Lawrence residents had first thought of opening a private Free-State college in the town when it was first settled. This was in the summer of 1854. That fall, one of the members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company, Charles Robinson, told treasurer Amos Adams Lawrence that the people of Lawrence would start a college as soon as possible. It was supposed to be on top of Hogback Ridge (later known as Mount Oread). By 1856, no private college for Lawrence was yet created. However, the people of Lawrence were still hoping to create one. They also started to hope that it could later be changed into the state's university. On Christmas Day of 1856, a group of important Lawrence people approved a bill from a business committee. It said that the time had come to create a college in Lawrence. Fifteen trustees were chosen to govern the college. They immediately chose a committee to petition congress for land. It was estimated that $100,000 would be needed to get the college started properly. It was also believed that nearly all of this money would have to be raised outside of the Kansas Territory. The territorial legislature chartered a private "University of Lawrence" in January 1859. However, the people were never able to create a private college in Lawrence.
In 1859, in the Wyandotte Constitution - the constitution that Kansas became a state with - parts were written to create a state university. The first Kansas state legislature meeting in 1861, passed a bill that would create the state university in Manhattan, Kansas. They used the assets of the existing Blue Mont Central College. However, the bill was vetoed by Governor Charles Robinson of Lawrence. An attempt to override the veto in the Legislature failed by two votes. In 1862, another bill to make Manhattan the place of the state university failed by one vote. On February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds, and it created the state's land-grant college at the place. This would become Kansas State University.
However, the legislature said Manhattan's land-grant institution was different than what a "state university" is. On February 20, 1863, Kansas Governor Thomas Carney signed into law a bill creating the state university in Lawrence. The law said that if Lawrence wanted the college, Lawrence would need to give a $15,000 endowment fund and a place for the university. The place would have to be in or near the town, and it had to be at least forty acres (160,000 m²) big. If Lawrence did not do these, Emporia would get the university instead of Lawrence.
The place chosen for the university was a hill known as Mount Oread or Hogback Ridge. It was owned by former Kansas Governor Charles L. Robinson. Robinson and his wife Sara traded the area to the State of Kansas in exchange for land somewhere else. The philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence gave $10,000 of the needed endowment fund. The people of Lawrence raised the remaining cash by issuing notes supported by Governor Carney. On November 2, 1863, Governor Carney said that Lawrence had met the conditions to get the state university. On March 1, 1864, the University of Kansas was officially chartered.
The school's Board of Regents had its first meeting in March 1865. This is the event that KU dates its creation from. Work on the first college building (Old North College) started later that year. On July 19, 1866, the Board of Regents elected KU's first three faculty members.
The University of Kansas officially opened on September 12, 1866. It had 26 girls and 29 boys registered in the preparatory school. The school started teaching college-level classes in 1869. The first class (of four students) graduated from the university in 1873. It was one of the first public colleges to admit women and men equally in the United States.
From these beginnings, a rivalry with Kansas State, the oldest public college in the state of Kansas, started.
A student of the early 1870s was writer and journalist Frank Harris. In Volume 1 of his memoirs ("My Life and Loves", 1922), he described the intellectual climate he found in the university at that time. He said its New England liberal roots were being overtaken by conservatism.
In April 1874, the school's first serious student publication, "Observer of Nature", was issued. In March 1878, former Chancellor James Marvin led the school's first "campus beautification" project. Over 300 trees were planted, including an area which is now known as the "Marvin Grove".
In May 1886, professor Edgar Henry Summerfield Bailey first proposed the cheer that would become the "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, K.U.” chant. Initially created for the KU science club, Bailey's version was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three times. The rahs were later replaced by "Rock Chalk." This is a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone found on Mount Oread, where the Lawrence campus is. Over time, the chant became known worldwide. Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt said it the "greatest college chant he'd ever heard." In 1920, the King of Belgium asked for a normal American college chant at the Olympic Games. After discussion, the athletes at the Games agreed on the Rock Chalk chant.
In 1893 the Kansas Legislature allowed $50,000 to build a new physics and electrical engineering building. The building resembled a French chateau now remembered as "old" Blake Hall. The next year, the university's library, Spooner Hall, was finished and opened. It is the oldest free-standing building still at KU. In 1895, the first long distance ship-to-shore message was sent by physics and engineering professor, Lucien I. Blake. The message was sent using underwater wireless technology.
In March 1898, lightning struck the engineering building and the heating plant. It started major fires, and destroyed both buildings. As a result, former Kansas City businessman George Fowler gave $18,000 to rebuild. It became known as the Fowler Shops. The building is now Stauffer-Flint Hall, where the journalism school is.
Starting in 1910, electric trolleys started providing service throughout Lawrence and the KU campus. In the same year, Marvin Hall was dedicated as the School of Engineering. Haworth Hall was dedicated for the departments of geology and mineralogy. One year later, a commencement ceremony was held. This marked the completion of Potter Lake. On February 8, 1912, a group of KU women organized the Women's Athletic Association. It was the first group of its kind in the school's history. William B. Thayer and his wife donated their personal art collection to KU, valued at $150,000.
In 1921, the Memorial Stadium was built to replace McCook Field. The football team still plays in Memorial Stadium. This makes it the seventh oldest college football stadium in the United States.
On May 13, 1923, William Allen White became the first KU alumnus to win a Pulitzer Prize. It was awarded to him for his Emporia Gazette editorial “To An Anxious Friend”. In that editorial, White defended free speech. The School of Business was created in 1924. The first campus union was built on in 1926 as a campus community center. On February 18, 1930, future KU alumnus Clyde Tombaugh said he discovered the planet Pluto. Later in 1930, present-day Snow Hall was completed and dedicated. It replaced the old, broken building. In 1932, one of KU's most famous football and wrestling stars, Pete Mehringer, qualified for the 1932 Olympics.
A major civil rights decision came on August 8, 1938. Under severe pressure from Kansas Governor Walter Huxman and several civil rights leaders, the Kansas Board of Regents voted to stop rules which had stopped black students from completing their education at the KU School of Medicine. The current chancellor's residence was finished in 1939. It was known as "The Outlook". The residence was able to be built because of Elizabeth Watkins. Danforth Chapel was officially dedicated in April 1946.