Suomi College was founded in 1896 by the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America after large numbers of Finns immigrated to Hancock in the 1880s to work in the copper and lumber industries. Its founder, mission pastor J. K. Nikander, wanted seminary training to take place in America because he had seen that Swedish and Finnish immigrants along the Delaware River did not train new ministers and feared a loss of Finnish identity. The college was established to preserve Finnish culture, train Lutheran ministers, and teach English. Old Main, the first building erected at Suomi College, had its cornerstone laid on May 30, 1898. Built of Jacobsville sandstone quarried at the Portage Entry of the Keweenaw waterway and brought by barge, cut, and used here, the building was dedicated on January 21, 1900, and contained a dormitory, kitchen, laundry, classrooms, offices, library, chapel, and lounge. The college quickly outgrew it, and in 1901 a frame building with a gym, meeting hall, and music center was erected on an adjacent lot. That structure was later demolished when Nikander Hall, named for J. K. Nikander and designed by the architectural firm of Saarinen and Swanson, was built in 1939. During the 1920s Suomi became a liberal arts college, and in 1958 the seminary separated from the college. Four years later, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America merged with other mainstream Lutheran churches.