page_title: University of Washington
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: University of Washington / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The original building of the Territorial University of Washington on Denny's Knoll in Seattle, Washington.
context_page_description: The University of Washington is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in downtown Seattle approximately a decade after the city's founding to aid its economic development. Today, the university's 703-acre main Seattle campus is in the University District above the Montlake Cut, within the urban Puget Sound region of the Pacific Northwest. The university has additional campuses in Tacoma and Bothell. Overall, UW encompasses over 500 buildings and over 20 million gross square footage of space, including one of the largest library systems in the world with more than 26 university libraries, as well as the UW Tower, lecture halls, art centers, museums, laboratories, stadiums, and conference centers. The university offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through 140 departments in various colleges and schools, sees a total student enrollment of roughly 46,000 annually, and functions on a quarter system.
caption: The original University building, c. 1870.
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