The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Barclay Hall

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Barclay Hall (general view), Urbana University

Barclay Hall (at right, with Francis Bailey Hall at left, rendering), Urbana University

Barclay Hall (at right, connected to Francis Bailey Hall, at left), Urbana University

Institution Name: Urbana University
Original/Historic Place Name: Barclay Hall
Location on Campus:
Date(s) of Construction:

1883	original construction

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Italianate, Other (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education, history, religion
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: brick covered with stucco

Roof: asphalt

Function:

ca. 1883-present (2006)	gymnasium
ca. 1883-present (2006)	library
ca. 1883-present (2006)	academic department building (science laboratories)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	classrooms

Narrative:
The sister building of Bailey Hall, Barclay Hall was built in 1883 to house a museum, biology laboratory, mechanical drawing room and lecture hall, and is connected to Bailey Hall with a triple-arched arcade covering walkways between the buildings. Barclay Hall was named after Hester Barclay, the first American woman to accept the Swedenborgian faith. Barclay was a ward of the Bailey family, and it was her brother-in-law, Judge John Young, who converted Johnny Appleseed to the Swedenborgian faith. This is an indication of how the Swedenborgian Church valued women and, in fact, Urbana University was the second college in Ohio to become a co-educational institution.

Barclay Hall is on the National Historic Registry as part of the "Historic Buildings of Urbana College."

References:

Gannon, Loren S., Jr. Urbana CollegeHistoric Buildings. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1980.

Higgins, Frank. The Will to Survive--Urbana College (1850-1975). Urbana, OH: Urbana College, 1977.

IMLS and the Department of the Interior. Steven McQuillin, assessor. Conservation Assessment Program Report [re: Urbana University, Urbana, OH]. February 2001.

Weisenburger, Francis P. A Brief History of Urbana University. Pamphlet. [Urbana, OH: Urbana University], 1950.