The school was established in Ontario, California, in 1883, when city founders and brothers George and William Chaffey donated land and established an endowment for a private college. The private school was founded as the Chaffey College of Agriculture of the University of Southern California; USC, also a private university, had been founded three years earlier in nearby Los Angeles. The cornerstone of the new school was laid on March 17, 1883, at Fourth and Euclid in Ontario; it opened on October 15, 1885. The original institution included a secondary school and was run by USC until 1901. During this period, Chaffey's football team had a 1-1 series with the young USC football team, winning 32-6 in 1893 and losing 38-0 in 1897.