In 1893 the Kansas Legislature allowed $50,000 to build a new physics and electrical engineering building. The building resembled a French chateau now remembered as "old" Blake Hall. The next year, the university's library, Spooner Hall, was finished and opened. It is the oldest free-standing building still at KU. In 1895, the first long distance ship-to-shore message was sent by physics and engineering professor, Lucien I. Blake. The message was sent using underwater wireless technology.