COMPOUND OBJECT (22 Items)
Old Main (Main) Item Info
- Title:
- Old Main (Main)
- Description:
- Old Main, originally known as Main or the College, stood approximately where Beardshear Hall now stands for only 34 years. When it was built, and many years after, it held the entire college. It housed classrooms, the library, chapel, museums, and dining halls and was the residence of faculty and students. Plans for the College Building began as early as 1858, but construction couldn't start until after the Civil War financial strains had passed, in the spring of 1864. The construction of the building was plagued with problems from the very start. The original architect was discharged after the first year of construction for incompetence. When the second architect was hired, he determined that the foundation done in the last year needed to be fixed, due to the poor bricks used. The work done in 1864 was ordered to be destroyed, and construction started in the spring of 1865. The new architect also found the plans in need of serious revisions. Despite these revisions, it was discovered once construction was completed that there were no water, lighting, heat, or drainage provisions in the structure. In 1882, a tornado damaged the south tower. A fire in 1900 destroyed the entire north wing and much of the interior of the center section and damaged much of the remaining building. The damage was barely repaired in 1902 when another fire struck, this time in the south wing, destroying the building. Plans for constructing Beardshear Hall on the same site began shortly after. Credit: The Iowa State University Campus and Its Buildings
- Location:
- Old Main; Ames; Iowa
- Latitude:
- 42.02660816
- Longitude:
- -93.64794385
- Year Built:
- 1864; 1871
- Year Removed:
- 1901; 1902
- Building Cost:
- 150000
- Architect:
- C.A. Dunham
- Contractor:
- Jacob Reichard
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Old Main (Main)", History of the Buildings of Iowa State University, Digital Scholarship and Initiatives
- Reference Link:
- /historic-buildings/items/hist_20.html