Founder Chauncey Rose, along with nine friends, created the Terre Haute School of Industrial Science in 1874 to provide technical training after encountering difficulties in local engineer availability during construction of his railroads. Mr. Rose donated the land on 13th and Locust St. and the majority of the funds needed to start the new school. A year later, the cornerstone of the new institution was laid and the name was changed to Rose Polytechnic Institute despite the objections of the president of the board of managers and chief benefactor, Mr. Rose.