In 1897, a normal school, or school for teachers, was established in Alva by an act of the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature. It was the second normal school in Oklahoma, charged with preparing teachers to serve the many one-room schoolhouses that covered the prairie. It was called the Northwestern Territorial Normal School. The new school's faculty consisted of the school's first president, James E. Ament, and two teachers. Classes were held in the Congregational Church until construction of the first building, the "Castle on the Hill," was complete in 1899.