Back in time with NAU

old time NAU
old time NAU
A married student and her baby pose in front of their campus home in NAU’s Cottage City in 1939.

Let Inside NAU take you back in time this summer with tidbits of university history.

History lesson: A cottage place

When Northern Arizona State Teachers College was officially recognized as a “Class A” four-year teacher training institution in 1928, enrollment on campus escalated. One hundred cottages, called Cottage City, were built on north campus to accommodate the increasing number of students.

Cottage City furnishings included cots, chairs and tables. They rented for about $4 a week and no single women under 25 were allowed to live in them without parents or an older woman who could be responsible for the student.

The cottages later were finished with rock walls and used to house married students. In 1982, the cottages were demolished to make way for the University Union.

Photo courtesy of Northern Arizona University, Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives. (NAU.ARC. 1939-2-17).