National Register of Historic Places

College Hall

Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont
Listed
April 22, 1975
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
75000146

About this property

College Hall is the central building of the campus of the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, U.S. state of Vermont. Located prominently on Ridge Street atop Seminary Hill, this 1872 Second Empire building has been a major visual and architectural landmark in the city since its construction. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance in 1975. College Hall is located near the top of a hill east of downtown Montpelier, that was given the name Seminary Hill after the Vermont Methodist Conference established the campus of its seminary there in 1866. The site was chosen because of its proximity to railroad service, and to the state's center of government; it had previously housed a military hospital during the American Civil War. College Hall was built between 1868 and 1872 at a cost of $50,000, and has been in educational use ever since. It was operated exclusively as the Vermont Seminary until 1936, when Vermont Junior College was given space in the seminary facilities. The seminary closed its doors in 1947. Vermont Junior College was reorganized as Vermont College in 1958 and merged into Norwich University in 1972. The university used the campus to establish a fine arts program, which was later sold to the Union Institute in 2001. The Vermont College of Fine Arts was established in 2008. College Hall is a cruciform masonry building, built out of load-bearing brick walls set on a foundation of rubblestone faced in cut granite. It is four stories in height, covered with a mansard roof. The long street-facing facade is eleven bays wide, with the central three projecting. The projecting section has round-arch windows, including two-story windows in the second and third floors, where the chapel is located. The flanking wings have round-arch windows in the first floor and the mansarded fourth floor, with segmented-arch windows on the second and third levels. The entrance is in the center bay, which projects slightly further, and is topped by a tower rising five stories, also with a mansard roof. The building corners have brick quoining, and there is a beltcourse of brickwork above the first floor. The roof eaves are studded with modillions. National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Vermont

Location

Montpelier, Washington County, Vermont
44.25528, -72.56746

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Montpelier Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.2 mi
National Clothespin Factory
Industrial
0.3 mi
Athenwood and Thomas W. Wood Studio
Industrial
0.6 mi
Montpelier Historic District
Listed
0.6 mi
Vermont Statehouse
Industrial
0.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was College Hall listed on the National Register?

College Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 22, 1975.

What type of historic resource is College Hall?

College Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for College Hall?

The period of significance for College Hall is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near College Hall?

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