The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

East Hall

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East Hall (historic view), Ripon College

Institution Name: Ripon College
Original/Historic Place Name: East College
Location on Campus: NE corner of upper campus (Ransom St.) near end of Blossom St.
Date(s) of Construction:

1851-1863	original construction Gill, Andrew
1882-1883	addition; remodeled

Designer: Andrew Gill
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Greek revival, Italianate, Regionalist/Vernacular (Glossary)
Significance: education, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: stone and brick

Roof: fiberglass shingle roof

Function:

ca. 1861	other (used briefly as a rendezvous for the First Wisconsin Cavalry)
ca. 1863	old main (Brockway College)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	classrooms
ca. 2004-present (2006)	faculty offices
ca. 2004-present (2006)	other (lounge)
ca. n.d.	chapel

Narrative:
The original building was built by the founders of the Village of Ripon and volunteer labor to attract the "right breed of people" to a frontier settlement. It was remodeled and enlarged in 1883, using the same style and materials. Kresge Little Theatre in East Hall was the site of the first debate sponsored by the National Forensics League in 1931.

Brockway (Ripon) College was a typical "booster" College on the American frontier in the mid 19th century. It was affiliated almost from the beginning with the Congregational Church. Use by the State of Wisconsin as the rendezvous for the First Wisconsin Cavalry at the outset of the Civil War was the first of three occasions when the College turned over a part of its facilities to either the State or Federal Government for military purposes, the other two being the two World Wars of the 20th Century. East Hall has been renovated a number of times and is in quite good condition, although not fully accessible for the handicapped.

References:

Ashley, Robert and George H. Miller. Ripon College: A History. Ripon, WI: Ripon College Press, 1990.

Cartwright, Carol Lohry. Ripon College Historic District. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/ Park Service, 1995.

Peotter, Tonya, Dianne Bell, George Miller, and Louise Schang. "Ripon College Buildings: Past and Present." 1989, revised 1991. Archives, Lane Library, Ripon College, Ripon, WI. Online (2006). http://www.ripon.edu/library/archives/reference/building_ref_man/default.html