Michigan, your history has shaped our present, and the future of those still to come.
Michigan, your history has shaped our present, and the future of those still to come.
Photos from a time we will never see and a glimpse of the present
June 11, 2026
By Becky Reames | Photos by Marc-Grégor Campredon, Kaley Joy, Bentley Historical Library
The University of Michigan’s central campus has been in existence since 1841, and all across its grounds,you will see pieces of a time long before us—a time that helped to shape the experiences that we and those who will come after us will have.
A man walks on the Diag sometime around 1880, with the original Law Building, also known as old Haven Hall, in the background on the right, and the short-lived Homeopathic Hospital, built as an extension of the Northwest Professors’ House, in the background on the left. The Law Building was built in 1863, renamed Haven Hall in 1933, and destroyed by fire in 1950. Image includes class of 1862 rock.
Students enjoying a spring day on the Diag in 2023, with the West Hall Engineering Arch in the background.
First known photo of the original University of Michigan football team, 1879.
The 2024 University of Michigan Rose Bowl Champions.
Students reading in the Law Library in the old Law Building, later known as Haven Hall. Built in 1863, the building housed the Law School until the early 1930s and was destroyed by fire in 1950.
Students hard at work in the William C. Cook Legal Research Library Reading Room at the U-M Law Library which was completed in 1931 with its 50-foot cathedral ceiling and stained glass windows.
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