The Stock Pavilion is an exhibit hall built in 1908 at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, with its exterior styled like a medieval housebarn. In 1985 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for architectural significance.

History

By 1900 agriculture was a big part of Wisconsin's economy. The vast majority of heavy fieldwork was still powered by horses, as tractors were just beginning to appear. Each February a big horse show and auction was held in the Dairy Barn pavilion and Agriculture Hall, but the show outgrew those venues. A committee was appointed to consider options. It included

Frederick Pabst Johann Gottlieb Friedrich "Frederick" Pabst (March 28, 1836 – January 1, 1904) was a German-American ship's captain and brewer and the namesake of the Pabst Brewing Company. Pabst was born in Prussia and emigrated to the United States with his p ...

and other prominent horse breeders, and in 1906 they recommended that the legislature provide $80,000 for a new pavilion. Secretary of State

Walter Houser Walter L. Houser (May 6, 1855 – April 7, 1928) was a politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as that state's seventeenth Secretary of State of Wisconsin, serving two terms from January 5, 1903 to January 7, 1907. He was a Republ ...

also lobbied for the building and in 1907 the state legislature approved a special appropriation for it. With Gathering ideas for the new building, UW supervising architect

Arthur Peabody Arthur Peabody (November 16, 1858 – September 6, 1942) was the campus architect for the University of Wisconsin from 1905 to 1915 and the state architect of Wisconsin from 1915 to 1938. Peabody was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He graduated ...

and animal husbandry professor George Humphrey visited animal exhibition halls around the country. In 1908 Warren Powers Laird and

Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsyl ...

produced a design for the pavilion and general contractor T.C. McCarthy started building it. The design was in a

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

style, suggesting a medieval

housebarn A housebarn (also house-barn or house barn) is a building that is a combination of a house and a barn under the same roof. Most types of housebarn also have room for livestock quarters. If the living quarters are only combined with a byre, wher ...

with its rather steep gables and

half-timbering Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

in the upper facade. The building's footprint is 212 by 115 feet and it stands 3.5 stories high. The first story is clad in red brick, with concrete trim around the openings formed to resemble tabbed stonework. The upper walls are clad in yellow brick between false half-timbers. The roof is covered in green tiles, with vents and ribbons of skylights near the peak. Inside, most of the space is taken by an elliptical earth-floored arena 164 by 66 feet. Around the arena are six tiers of concrete bneches which can seat 2000 spectators. Beneath them are animal stalls and storage space. Tucked around the arena are two floors of classrooms, storage, and offices. When completed in 1908, the building won a prize as "the most desirable structure erected by any U.S. college in that year." The pavilion was the largest auditorium in Madison from the time it was built until 1930, when the

Field House Field house or fieldhouse is an American English term for an indoor sports arena or stadium, mostly used for college basketball, volleyball, or ice hockey, or a support building for various adjacent sports fields, e.g. locker room, team room, coac ...

was built. As such, it was used for numerous events not involving cattle, including football games, boy scout jamborees, UW commencements; concerts by

Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; r 1859– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's prime minister and foreign minister during which time he signed the Tre ...

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

, and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

; and speeches by

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

, and civil rights leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

The building was 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 ...

in 1985 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989 - significant for its intact, stylish architecture.

History

References

Further reading