Auburn University Chapel

Auburn Players Theater
Auburn University Chapel in 2011
Location College St. at Thach Ave., Auburn, Alabama
Coordinates 32°36′17″N 85°28′51″W / 32.60472°N 85.48083°W / 32.60472; -85.48083Coordinates: 32°36′17″N 85°28′51″W / 32.60472°N 85.48083°W / 32.60472; -85.48083
Built 1851
Architect Reese, Edwin
Architectural style Gothic, Other, Gothic Revival
NRHP Reference # 73000351[1]
Added to NRHP May 22, 1973
The Auburn University Chapel in Auburn, Alabama as it appeared in 1982

The Auburn University Chapel is the second-oldest building and oldest building in its original location on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.

History

The chapel was built in 1851 as a Presbyterian church in the Greek Revival style. During the Civil War, the building briefly served as a Confederate hospital for wounded soldiers, and later in the century was temporarily divided into classrooms when the main building of the nearby Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College burned in 1887.

Around 1900, the church was renovated in a Gothic style. The building was sold to the college in 1921, where it became the YMCA/YWCA center for a few years. From 1927 to 1973, it housed the Auburn Players Theater, the college's acting troupe.[2] Between 1973 and 1976, the structure underwent a significant renovation for conversion to the Auburn University Chapel, an interdenominational, multipurpose building, a function it still serves today. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Auburn Players Theater on May 22, 1973.[1]

Legends

Main article: Sydney Grimlett

Legend states that the building was haunted by "Sydney", the ghost of an Englishman and Confederate soldier who died in the chapel during the time it served as a hospital. When the building became a theater, the ghost began haunting the acting troupe. When the troupe moved to a new facility elsewhere on the Auburn campus, the ghost followed, and is now reported to haunt the Telfair Peet Theatre. The ghost was investigated recently by a well-known show on the History Channel. Auburn Theater students frequently leave Sydney Skittles before performing shows.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Staff (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Floyd, W. Warner (March 19, 1973). "Auburn Players Theater" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014. See also: "Accompanying photos" (PDF). Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.

External links

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