Zeta Psi Fraternity House

About this property

The Zeta Psi Fraternity House at Lafayette College is a historic house located on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The Tau Chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity built the house between 1909 and 1910. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The Tau chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity was chartered at Lafayette College in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania in 1857; it was the third fraternity on campus. Fraternities were not allowed to have chapter houses until October 1900, when the college's trustees viewed this as a partial solution to a campus housing shortage and established new policies. As a result, Zeta Psi met at various locations, including an office building in downtown Easton that a fraternity brother owned. The fraternity also rented space to hold its annual ball. By the fraternity's national convention in January 1907, the chapter had plans for a chapter house to present for approval. Zeta Psi chapter built its chapter house between 1909 and 1910 on the campus of Lafayette College. It is located on 9.9 acres on 49 S. College Street. The chapter house was the largest event space in the city and became a social hub of the campus and city. It new chapter house helped elevate Zeta Psi to the top position amongst campus fraternites. The chapter house was a training center for Reserve Officer Training Corps during World War I. The chapter declined during the war era due to declining grades and an off-campus meeting location. However, it revived in the 1920s, with members gaining academic honors and key positions in student government. However, the fraternity's connections to the Easton community declined, along with its finances, during the Great Depression and World War II. Beginning in September 2014, the house was unoccupied due to the suspension of Tau chapter by Lafayette College for five years. During the suspension, the fraternity was prohibited from occupying its chapter house. The college started using the Zeta Psi Fraternity House as an all-male dormitory in the fall of 2015, housing first-year students. The dorm was referred to as 49 South College Drive. The Tau chapter was officially recognized and reinstated by Lafayette College during the 2018–2019 academic year. The house is no longer used as a dormitory. The Zeta Psi Fraternity House at Lafayette College was designed by architects William March Michler of Easton and James Barnes Baker of New York, both Zeta Psi members and civil engineering graduates of Lafayette College. The general contractor was Amanndus Steinmetz and Streepy and Strickland were the stonemasons. Michler's brother, Roosevelt Michler, was its interior decorator, securing interior fittings and furnishings Construction cost between $35,000 and $43,000 ($1,254,167 to 1,540,833 in 2022 money).

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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