Morrill Hall (Cornell University)

Last updated

Morrill Hall, Cornell University
Cornell Morrill Hall photostitch rectilinear corrected May 2009.jpg
Morrill Hall at Cornell University in May 2009
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Morrill Hall in New York state
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Morrill Hall (Cornell University) (the United States)
Location159 Central Ave.,
Ithaca, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 42°26′55″N76°29′7″W / 42.44861°N 76.48528°W / 42.44861; -76.48528
Built1866
ArchitectHarlow Wilcox and Cyrus K Porter
Architectural style Second Empire
NRHP reference No. 66000576
NYSRHP No.10940.000008
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 21, 1965 [2]
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980

Justin Morrill Hall, known almost exclusively as Morrill Hall, is an academic building of Cornell University on its main campus in Ithaca, New York. As of 2009, it houses the university's Departments of Romance Studies, Russian Literature, and Linguistics. The building is named in honor of Justin Smith Morrill, who as Senator from Vermont was the primary proponent of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act of 1862 which greatly assisted the founding of Cornell University. Morrill Hall was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. [2] [3]

Contents

History

The eastern face of Morrill Hall Cornell Morrill Hall eastern face.jpg
The eastern face of Morrill Hall
The western face of Morrill Hall, which presently serves as the back of the building Cornell Morrill Hall 3.jpg
The western face of Morrill Hall, which presently serves as the back of the building
Morrill Hall shortly after completion Sv ny anthony cornell-b.jpg
Morrill Hall shortly after completion

Morrill Hall was Cornell University's first newly constructed building, built at a cost of $70,111 and opening on October 7, 1868 as South University Building, [4] or less formally, as South Hall. [5] It is the southernmost of the three buildings which comprise the "Stone Row" which forms the west side of Cornell's Arts Quadrangle, all constructed of Ithaca bluestone quarried from the base of Libe Slope. An early Cornell professor, Goldwin Smith, said dismissively of these three buildings that "nothing can redeem them but dynamite." [4] While all three of these historic buildings remain standing, each has undergone periods of extensive renovation to overcome the limitations of their original structural designs.

While the building primarily provides a home for language-related departments such as Romance Studies, Russian Literature, and Linguistics, Morrill Hall has previously served as the headquarters for a much broader variety of departments. The fourth floor of the building housed the Cornell Law School in its entirety when it first opened in 1887. [4] The Psychology Department was located in Morrill Hall until its current headquarters were established in Uris Hall, [4] and the university Co-Operative store, also known as the Co-Op [6] was located Morrill Hall's basement during the early 20th century.[ when? ]

Architecture

The exterior architectural style of Morrill Hall has been alternatively described as Second Empire [5] and Italian Renaissance. [7] The structure was originally divided into three distinct sections: a southern wing containing student residential suites with room for sixty students; [4] a central academic wing for classrooms, the library, and an auditorium; and a northern wing containing offices. Originally, the sections were not interconnected, and moving from one to the other required exiting and re-entering the building. [5] This segmented structure was designed as a safety feature, as a fire in one wing of the building would be less likely to spread to the other two sections of the structure. [4] The partitions between the three segments of the building were demolished in 1897 as part of a large-scale renovation. [8]

The buildings comprising the Stone Row – Morrill Hall, McGraw Hall, and White Hall – all face westward toward Libe Slope, as the university originally intended to develop the slope area with further construction projects. [9] Later construction efforts, however, focused on the area east of the three historical buildings, leaving them facing the wrong way. Morrill Hall's current interior layout, following a 1973 remodeling, [4] thus runs counter to the original exterior orientation. The structure's three primary entrances and main reception area all open to the eastern face of the building on the Arts Quadrangle, with only one of the original western entrances still in use. Thus, the exterior front of the building now serves functionally as the back of the building.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University</span> Agricultural college of Cornell University

The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University is one of Cornell University's four statutory colleges, and is the only College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Ivy League. With enrollment of approximately 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students, CALS is Cornell's second-largest undergraduate college and the third-largest college of its kind in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences</span>

The College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelor's degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School. Its major academic buildings are located on the Arts Quad and include some of the university's oldest buildings. The college offers courses in many fields of study and is the largest college at Cornell by undergraduate enrollment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marycrest College Historic District</span> Historic district in Iowa, United States

Marycrest College Historic District is located on a bluff overlooking the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. The district encompasses the campus of Marycrest College, which was a small, private collegiate institution. The school became Teikyo Marycrest University and finally Marycrest International University after affiliating with a Japanese educational consortium during the 1990s. The school closed in 2002 because of financial shortcomings. The campus has been listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004. At the time of its nomination, the historic district consisted of 13 resources, including six contributing buildings and five non-contributing buildings. Two of the buildings were already individually listed on the National Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slope Day</span>

Slope Day is an annual day of celebration held at Cornell University, historically held during the last day of regular undergraduate classes, though it has been moved to the following day as of 2014. The Slope Day Programming Board (SDPB) is responsible for organizing the event, selecting artists, and managing the Slope Day's execution. Though Slope Day has gone through many phases, in recent years the focus has shifted to live music and catered food and beverages on the slope on Cornell's primary campus in Ithaca, New York

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art</span> Museum in New York

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin D. Martin House, and more than 35,000 other works in the permanent collection. It was designed by architect I.M. Pei and is known for its distinctive concrete facade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llenroc</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Llenroc is a Gothic revival villa built for Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell University. It is located at 100 Cornell Avenue in Ithaca, New York, just below the Cornell University campus. Since 1911, it has been the home of the Pi Chapter of the Delta Phi fraternity. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deke House (Ithaca, New York)</span> United States historic place

Deke House, the Delta Kappa Epsilon or "Deke" House on the campus of Cornell University, was built in 1893 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It was designed by William Henry Miller to serve as a fraternity house. Two trees which Theodore Roosevelt planted in front of the house are on the National Register of Historic Trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural Center Historic District (Detroit)</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Cultural Center Historic District is a historic district located in Detroit, Michigan, which includes the Art Center : the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The district contains several cultural attractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberts Hall (Ithaca, New York)</span> United States historic place

Roberts Hall was the first building of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, built 1905–1906, and demolished July 1990. A second building of that name was built in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Hall (Ithaca, New York)</span> United States historic place

Stone Hall was a building on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, named after John Lemuel Stone, a CALS professor of farm practice during the early 1900s. Stone, Roberts, and East Roberts Hall were three joined buildings on the Agriculture Quadrangle, with the larger Roberts in the center and Stone and East Roberts on the west and east sides, respectively. The three buildings made up the original New York State College of Agriculture, built 1905–1906. The three were demolished in the late 1980s, despite the efforts of the City of Ithaca and local preservationists to save the buildings.

William Henry Miller (1848–1922) was an American architect based in Ithaca, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parrott Hall</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Parrott Hall is a historic home located at Geneva in Ontario County, New York. It was built in the early 1850s and consists of a 3-story main block and 2-story addition in the Italianate villa style. In 1882, the property was acquired by New York State for use as an agricultural experiment station, and was part of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station until 1968. It was deeded to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1970 for use as a museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates</span>

Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, or BMG, is an architectural firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in Indianapolis on April 10, 1853, as D. A. Bohlen, Architect by Diedrich A. Bohlen, German immigrant. In 1884, after Diedrich's son, Oscar D. Bohlen, joined the firm it was renamed D. A. Bohlen and Son. Four successive generations of Bohlen architects have worked at the firm: Diedrich A. Bohlen, Oscar D. Bohlen, August C. Bohlen, and Robert L. Bohlen. The firm specialized in institutional projects, especially civic, religious, and educational buildings. In 1971 Melvin B. G. Meyer acquired majority interest in the firm, which adopted its name in reference to its founder and its two principal architects, Meyer and John M. Gibson. The architectural firm is among the oldest still operating in the United States. More than twenty of its projects are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell Central Campus</span>

Central Campus is the primary academic and administrative section of Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus. It is bounded by Libe Slope on the west, Fall Creek on the north, and Cascadilla Creek on the South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LeConte Hall</span> United States historic place

LeConte Hall is the former name of a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, which is home to the physics department. LeConte Hall was one of the largest physics buildings in the world at the time it was opened in 1924, and was also the site of the first atom collider, built by Ernest O. Lawrence in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrill Hall (Iowa State University)</span> United States historic place

Morrill Hall, on the campus of Iowa State University, is a historic building that now houses the Christian Petersen Art Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Nevada Reno Historic District</span> Historic district in Nevada, United States

University of Nevada Reno Historic District on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno is a 40-acre (16 ha) historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on February 25, 1987. It includes works by architects Stanford White and Frederick J. DeLongchamps. It includes 13 contributing buildings and two other contributing structures, including two separately NRHP-listed buildings, the Mackay School of Mines Building and Morrill Hall. The 13 historic buildings are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerlinger Hall</span>

Gerlinger Hall is a historic building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon as part of the Women's Memorial Quadrangle. For the first time, enough women were attending the University that they could occupy their own full quadrangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Hall (Ohio State University)</span> Campus building of Ohio State University

University Hall is the main academic building at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The building houses classrooms for several of the university's colleges and includes a museum on the ground floor.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Morrill Hall, Cornell University". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 15, 2007. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
  3. S. Sydney Bradford (January 22, 1976), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Morrill Hall (pdf), National Park Service and Accompanying photos, exterior, from 1976, and drawing from 1866.  (1.15 MB)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Olmsted, Elizabeth (September 4, 1973). "Morrill Hall Opens; Interior Modernized". Cornell Daily Sun. pp. 1, 12. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 "Morrill Hall". Cornell SuperInfobase. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  6. von Engeln, Oscar Diedrich (1917). Concerning Cornell. Ithaca: Geography Supply Bureau. p.  33.
  7. "Arts Quad Historic District". City of Ithaca Department of Planning. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  8. "The Morrill Hall Improvements". Cornell Daily Sun. May 14, 1897. p. 2. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  9. von Engeln, Oscar Diedrich (1917). Concerning Cornell. Ithaca: Geography Supply Bureau. p.  32.