Old Main, at 400 East Tyler Mall on the Tempe campus of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

, is the oldest building on the campus. It was built in 1898 and was designed by W. A. McGinnis in the Victorian Queen Anne style with

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesq ...

influences. Along with the Administration/Science Building (now the University Club) and a third building no longer extant, Old Main defined the first quad on the campus of the Arizona Territorial Normal School;

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

would not become a state for 14 years after Old Main was dedicated."Arizona State Historic Property Inventory"
/ref>"Old Main"
on the Arizona State University website Old Main was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1985 as "Main Building, Tempe Normal School" The building has been restored since it was received historic status.

History

Construction began on Old Main in 1894, and it was dedicated in February 1898. The building was originally all classrooms on the second and third floor, with an auditorium (the Assembly Hall) on the upper floor and a library on the lower level. In 1911,

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

came to Arizona for the dedication of the

Roosevelt Dam Theodore Roosevelt Dam is a dam on the Salt River located northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. The dam is high and forms Theodore Roosevelt Lake as it impounds the Salt River. Originally built between 1905 and 1911, the dam was renovated and expande ...

, and spoke on the steps of Old Main. In his speech, he envisioned the opportunities the dam and the resulting irrigation for farming would create for Arizona and opined that some day perhaps as many as 100,000 people might live in the valley. The dam made possible the

Salt River Project The Salt River Project (SRP) is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan a ...

and eventually led to the evolution of the

Salt River Valley The Salt River Valley is an extensive valley on the Salt River in central Arizona, which contains the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Although this geographic term still identifies the area, the name "Valley of the Sun" popularly replaced the usage ...

as a major metropolitan area. For decades, Old Main was the largest building in the

. Its significance to the development of both Tempe and the university was great. After Old Main was built, alumni went to the legislature to ask that the admission standards be raised, in order to bring the stature of the institution up to the stature of the building. The designation of Old Main as a historic place with its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 – the year of ASU's centennial – provoked interest in restoring and renovation the building. Efforts began in 1990, and by 1996 it had become an important part of the university’s $400 million "Campaign for Leadership". Thanks to a $5.7 million campaign led by the ASU Alumni Association, the building was refurbished to the period in which it was constructed."Old Main: History"
on the Arizona State University website]

Architecture

Old Main is a two and one-half stories tall brick building with a full basement set on a granite base. The design is primarily Queen Anne, but shows influences of the Richardson Romanesque style. It has a hipped and projecting gabled pressed-metal roof with castellated cresting and metal ridge finials, and a red sandstone entrance stairway. The main (northern) facade faces University Drive and features two projecting gables. The two-story porch had been removed at some point in the building's history, but was restored in the modern renovation. The windows and doors generally have stone lintels; the upper level windows on the north side have circular arches, while those on the south side have segmented ones. The building is wrapped by stone courses at the window sill level. In 1953, a fire stair was added to the front of the building between the two gables. This was removed in the recent restoration.

References

External links

* {{NRHP in Arizona by county Arizona State University buildings Buildings and structures in Tempe, Arizona School buildings completed in 1898 National Register of Historic Places in Maricopa County, Arizona University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona

Victorian architecture in Arizona Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in the United States