Cal Poly circa 1904 with train passing in foreground

Little known to most people, the railroad had a large influence on the founding and location of Cal Poly. San Luis Obispo was a growing area with a reputable success in industry and agriculture. Myron Angel saw this as a possible starting point for a polytechnic school and presented this idea to the State Legislature in 1896. The bill shuffled under a mountain of paperwork and was rejected without a second glance.

That is until the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPR) took interest. This was the era of the train - where dining cars were furnished with fine china and crystal, and traveling by train was deemed an 'excursion' or 'adventure'. In an effort to draw more passengers to their Coast Route, the SPR wanted points of interest to line their routes. Management thought that if a school was built along the tracks this would provide visual stimulation for those riding the route.

On March 8, 1901, after six years of debate, legislation signed into law an act founding the California Polytechnic. This so called 'founding act' gave the school committee $50,000 to purchase the land for and construct the school. In 1902 a 281 acre parcel of land was decided upon by the trustees. This spot of land (small in comparison to the 10,000 acre landholding that Cal Poly has today) was on the northern corner of the city of San Luis Obispo next to the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad.