Bygone Buildings

CABINET HALL (Fall 2003 issue)

Cabinet Hall was the brainchild of the charismatic John Kost, a prominent Methodist Protestant and Adrian professor. Kost, who in some ways resembled Indiana Jones, offered to donate his extensive natural history collection to the College if they would construct a proper building for it. It was called Cabinet Hall. (As early as the 16th century, personal collections were called cabinets.) The structure was erected at the same time that Civil War troops trained on campus. When it was completed, it showcased Kost’s impressive collection, which he had gathered on expeditions as far-reaching as the Arctic and the tropics, risking his life in encounters with caves, volcanoes and the ocean. The parts of the collection that wouldn’t fit at AC were sent to the University of Florida, Heidelberg, and the University of Kansas. Kost’s relationship with AC was at times rocky, and there were disputes about money owed him, leading at one point to Kost changing the locks on the building. When he died in the early 1900s, the museum was abandoned and his things dispersed to other places. The science department was then relocated there for a while, and the second floor was renovated into a gym when basketball became a popular indoor sport. During World War II, student workers gutted the building and it was converted into a library.

Year built: 1864. • Year razed: Between 1963-1965. • Number of specimens in museum: 20,000. • Estimated value of specimens in 1867: $14,400. • Museum highlights: Gems, a lion and gorilla from Africa, elk from the Rockies, crocodile from the Nile, mammoth skeleton found in Lenawee County. • Name changes: Cabinet Hall, Science Hall, Library • AC founder Asa Mahan demanded that curator John Kost provide one of these that fit: Key to door. (Research by Heather Bennett ’03)

OLD NORTH HALL (Spring 2003 issue)

Construction on old North Hall began soon after the College was founded. Along with other early buildings, it was described as “a monument to the intelligence, good taste and liberality of the founders and patrons of the college.” Through the years, Adrian’s “Old Main” housed a men’s dormitory, a library, classrooms, administrative offices, and, during two separate wars, it served as quarters for soldiers in training. (In 1861 and 1864, it housed the Fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantry before they headed off to the Civil War. With World War I drawing to a close in 1918, student-soldiers in the Student Army Training Corps lived there.) In 1880, it was severely damaged by fire and was later rebuilt. In 1943, the second and third floors were converted from male housing to laboratory and classroom facilities. Around 30 years later, it was torn down to make way for the new North Hall, which was completed in 1971 and serves as an academic building to this day.

• Year construction began: 1859. • Year razed: 1970. • Year burned: 1880. • Special features after the fire renovation: Carpeting, steam heat. • At the grand reopening: Oyster snacks, Chinese lanterns. • Year electricity was introduced: 1904.

SOUTH HALL (Winter 2003 issue)

South Hall was one of the first two buildings constructed at Adrian College. The new college was situated along Madison Street, and South Hall at that time formed the southern edge of campus. The west wing was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1870s. Over the years, the old, ivy-covered structure was used as a women’s dormitory, a men’s dormitory, a dining hall, and as classroom space. It housed the Little Theatre in its basement. The cupola on the roof of the building was home to the South Hall Bell, which rang for classes, meals and mandatory chapel services, as well as for special occasions such as weddings, funerals and graduations. Sometimes it was rung in the middle of the night by unknown culprits. Today, the bell is preserved as a monument in front of Shipman Library, but South Hall itself was torn down long ago.

•Year built: 1859. • Year razed: 1965. • Preferred way for suitors to contact the coeds within: By serenade. • Curfew on a week night: 9 p.m. • Authorized access to upper stories: Spiral staircase. • Unauthorized access to upper stories: Fire escapes. • Unusual guest one night in the lounge: The College’s dairy cow.

METCALF HALL (Fall 2002 issue)

Metcalf Hall was built during the term of Dennison C. Thomas ’62, who was president from 1893 to 1898. The building was named after David Metcalf, a retired merchant and trustee who donated $6,000 for the project. Located on Madison St. near the area where Herrick Tower now stands, it provided space for many purposes through the years, including a music conservatory, a women’s gymnasium, a male dormitory, and a museum. However, it was best known for its first floor dining hall, which operated until Ritchie Dining Hall was completed in 1957.

• Year built: 1895. •Year razed: 1965. • Cost: $16,409.90 • Distinguishing feature: Porch. • On the menu at the grand opening, 1895: Tongue. • Organizations housed there: YMCA, YWCA. • In the fire of 1911, how long it took the horses from the fire department to arrive: 30 minutes. • Estimated fire damage: $3,000.