University Hall (Harvard University)
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University Hall is a handsome, white granite building designed by noted early American architect Charles Bulfinch on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is now a National Historic Landmark.
The hall was designed by Bulfinch, class of 1781, and built between 1813-15 of white Chelmsford granite, probably using rock cut to size at the Charlestown Prison. It consists of a partial basement story, plus three full stories raised above ground as well as an additional story set within the roofline. The long east and west facades are very similar, and symmetrically arranged with two entrances per facade, each flanked by pilasters; smaller north and south facades present rows of windows. Total construction cost was $65,000 of which $53,000 was paid by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
University Hall's first floor contained the College Commons (dining room) until 1849; the building also contained a library and philosophical (scientific) apparatus, as well as a chapel within the second and third floors. A massive portico with stone pillars was added to the western facade soon after completion but removed in 1842. In 1849 the first floor, then in 1867 the chapel, were partitioned into classrooms. In 1884 Daniel Chester French's statue of John Harvard was placed before the hall's western facade, where it remains to this day. In 1896 the chapel was restored and used for meetings of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
[edit] References
- William Garrott Brown, Official Guide to Harvard University, Harvard Memorial Society, 1899, page 23.
- Douglass Shand-Tucci, Harvard University: Campus Guide, Princeton Architectural Press, 2001, pages 22-23. ISBN 1568982801.
- Bainbridge Bunting, Margaret Henderson Floyd, Harvard: An Architectural History, Harvard University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-674-37290-5.
- Harvard Magazine article
