Old Main, originally known as University Hall and Main Hall, is a historic university building at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...

. Originally built in 1883, it is the oldest building on campus, despite having been rebuilt after an 1893 fire. It has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since 1973.

Architecture and functions

The original University Hall was constructed by Sioux Falls architect Wallace L. Dow in a mixed architectural style, but with undoubtable

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n influence. The new 1893 building has a marked

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

influence. It consists of a central three-story building, the main door facing south, with two-story wings on its east and west sides. It was constructed from pink

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

taken from a quarry near

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into northern Lincoln County. The population was 192 ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

trim along the windows, doors, and corners of the building.

Friezes In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neithe ...

, box cornices, and

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

adorn the exterior of the building, mainly made out of stamped sheet metal. The building has four

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s: two on the central building and one on each wing. An apse on the northern end of the central building houses Farber Hall, a small theatre that doubles as a lecture hall. The most noticeable feature of the building is the large spire atop the central building. Besides still hosting classes, Old Main is home to Farber Hall, named for Dr. William O. Farber, where lectures and other events are held. The University Honors Program offices and the

Oscar Howe Oscar Howe (''Mazuha Hokshina'' or "Trader Boy", May 13, 1915 – October 7, 1983) was a Yanktonai Dakota artist from South Dakota, who became well known for his casein and tempera paintings.Libhart, Myles and Vincent Price. ''Contemporary Sioux ...

Gallery are located on the ground floor.

History

When the University of South Dakota (then simply the University of Dakota) began holding classes in 1883, it was operating out of rented space in a building in downtown Vermillion. University Hall was the first building in the former

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

to be specifically built for an institution of higher public education. Using $10,000 in bonds proceeds raised by Clay County, the west wing of University Hall was completed in 1883, and the university moved in. The central tower of the building was constructed between 1884 and 1885, and the final east wing was completed in 1887. In 1893, University Hall caught fire. The interior was gutted but the exterior remained standing, and the hall began being rebuilt immediately. Over $42,500 was raised by the county and citizens of Vermillion for the repairs. Some materials used in the reconstruction included retired building materials from the 1893 World's Fair in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Among these repurposed materials were the metal friezes on the exterior front of the building, which can still be viewed today. These renovations were completed in August 1899. Several other buildings have been constructed in the decades since the university was founded, but Old Main still sits at the center of campus. Major renovations were completed between 1993 and 1997.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota Buildings and structures in Vermillion, South Dakota University and college academic buildings in the United States University and college administration buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, South Dakota 1883 establishments in Dakota Territory School buildings completed in 1883

Architecture and functions

History

See also

References