During his long tenure, which continued until 1920, Dow initiated a variety of programs to provide the blind with vocational, as well as academic, training.

He also oversaw expansion of the school's physical plant, including the construction in 1883 of the campus's dominant building (HABS No.

The latter renovation, planned by state architect Clarence Johnston, transformed the building's style from Second Empire to Georgian Revival.

At the same time, national education policy began discouraging residential programs for the disabled in favor of "mainstreaming," which reduced the school's population.

By the late twentieth century, the school had concluded that Dow Hall and the Blind Department Building were functionally and structurally obsolete and should be demolished.