The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Riddle Hall

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Riddle Hall (front facade, 2003), Wilson College

Riddle Hall (three-quarter view, 2003), Wilson College

Institution Name: Wilson College
Original/Historic Place Name: Riddle Hall
Location on Campus:
Date(s) of Construction:

1927-1928

original construction Ludlow & Peabody

Designer: Ludlow & Peabody
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Gothic revival, Other (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education, landscape
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: unknown

Walls: limestone

Roof: slate

Function:

1928-present (2006)

residence hall (women)

Narrative:
Riddle Hall was constructed from 1927 to 1928 and forms part of the college green at Wilson. Designed by Ludlow & Peabody of New York City, it was named in honor of Henry Alexander Riddle, trustee of the college and general passenger agent of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. Mr. Riddle's father and grandfather were both presidents of Jefferson College (Canonsburg, PA) and his daughter Elizabeth attended Wilson. The building is in the Collegiate Gothic style with steeply pitched gable roof with stone parapets. Windows are either tripled or doubled, separated by stone mullions. The entrance bay is defined by a pair of buttresses and the doorway itself by a Tudor arch. The building is T-shaped with the main facade being the north one or the top of the T.

Riddle Hall is an interesting artifact in the history of building campus housing for female students. The correspondence documenting the construction and furnishing of Riddle reflects attitudes regarding the education and housing of college women in the 1920s.

References:

Klauder, Charles Z., and Herbert C. Wise, "Women's Dormitories." In College Architecture in America and its Part in the Development of the Campus, by Charles Z. Klauder. New York: Scribner, 1929.

Reed, Paula S. Wilson College. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1995.

Wilson College Bulletin. [n.d.].