Category: M.A.C. Buildings

First Dairy Building—Chittenden Hall (1901) This building, the first on campus built specifically for dairy operations, was designed by George Lohman and dedicated in 1901. By the time of its dedication the Dairy had already been in use for a few months, as the equipment had been moved out of the basement of the Agricultural Laboratory,…

The Land Grant Act of 1862 had specified the teaching of “such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts,” but it was not until 1885 that the Michigan Agricultural College initiated a two-year course in Mechanic Arts. This soon expanded into a four-year Mechanical course, which ultimately evolved into the…

Day-to-day operation of the College farm and gardens was handled by a foreman and several laborers who lived on the grounds in a succession of small cottages, including one that was originally the Smith cabin and pre-dated the founding of the Agricultural College. As the land was cleared to expand the useful farmland and the…

In the early years of the Michigan Agricultural College, organized sports were virtually nonexistent—after all, “students who must work three hours a day in the field found less than the usual time or inclination for systematic athletic competition.” Nevertheless, informal games of baseball, soccer, and rugby frequently arose. A year before the Armory did its part to…

The success of the “Women’s Course,” which became the Divison of Home Economics in 1909, led to its outgrowth of both the Women’s Building (Morrill Hall) and Abbot Hall. As a result, the state Legislature granted funds for a new Home Economics building, one of few state-funded construction projects of the 1920s. Designed by Edwyn Bowd, the…

For the first four decades or so of its existence, the Michigan Agricultural College had no hospital or medical facilities to speak of. This was an untenable situation, because contagious diseases were a constant threat. For example, a diphtheria epidemic in 1862 left five dead and “sent many home.” According to Beal, “in 1875–1895 it…

Engineering at M.A.C. was at first scattered through several departments, including Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics and Civil Engineering, and Physics and Electrical Engineering. This began to change with the construction of the Engineering Building designed by College Architect E. A. Bowd, which provided ample classroom, office, and laboratory space for all these disciplines. In 1907 the first…

Howard Terrace was built at the eastern end of Faculty Row in 1888 on a $10,000 appropriation. It was designed by William Appleyard and contained eight apartments for use by instructors (or assistants) and their small families. In later years, portions were occupied by female students, and in 1914 the entire building was turned into a women’s dormitory. It was…