Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834 as the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute, it became Wake Forest College in 1838 and was renamed Wake Forest University in 1967. The university occupies 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) near the downtown area of Winston-Salem with over 8,000 students enrolled. The graduate school has about 2,800 students and offers 44 doctoral programs along with 62 master’s programs. In athletics, the university competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The men’s golf team has won 16 national championships, while all other Demon Deacon teams have collectively appeared in 27 NCAA tournaments.
The origins of Wake Forest University can be traced back to an earlier school established by Baptist minister Dr. Samuel Wait in 1754 called Davie School. This was located on what is now known as Davie Street in central Winston-Salem; however, its exact location is uncertain because of conflicting accounts and evidence found during archaeological excavations. A second Baptist institution known as New Garden Boarding School opened nearby on December 1, 1766, and both schools later merged under one name: Davie School & New Garden Boarding School.:21 On March 3rd of that year, the legislature issued a charter for creating a manual labor college “in or near” SalemTowne (present day Old Salem), which would train young men for careers such as farming or blacksmithing. However due to financial difficulties associated with running such an institution during the Revolutionary War years, nothing came of this plan until almost two decades later when Reverend Dr. James Manning from Rhode Island came down to Salemtowne himself to raise funds for his own proposed manual labor college: Brown University. Though successful in his efforts – raising $500 within two days – he ultimately decided against starting another college so soon after Brown had been founded.:23 Instead he turned his attention towards Tryon County where he helped start Martinson Academy, though this too failed due mostly to financial reasons related to post-Revolutionary War inflation rates.:24