The East Alabama Male College received a state charter on February 1, 1856. Established by Alabama Methodists to foster Christian education, it formally opened on October 1, 1859. It was used as a Confederate hospital from 1864 to 1866. On February 26, 1872, it was deeded to the state for the establishment in Auburn of The Agriculture and Mechanical College of Alabama. It was officially renamed The Alabama Polytechnic Institute on January 27, 1899. The garden, part of an area once used for athletics and military drill, memorializes a century of service to Alabama and the nation.