The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Louisa Wilson Bitting Residence Hall

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Louisa Wilson Bitting Residence Hall (distant view), Salem College

Louisa Wilson Bitting Reside Hall (front facade), Salem College

Louisa Wilson Bitting Residence Hall (side veiw), Salem College

Institution Name: Salem College
Original/Historic Place Name: Bitting Dormitory
Location on Campus:
Date(s) of Construction:

1930	original construction Upjohn, Hobart

Designer: Hobart Upjohn
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Regionalist/Vernacular (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: concrete

Walls: Flemish bond brick

Roof: red tile; gable

Function:

1930s	residence hall (dormitory for senior students)
present (2006)	residence hall (student dormitory)

Narrative:
Designed by Hobart Upjohn and built by the Fogle Brothers Company, Bitting Dormitory offers a good example of Moravian style architecture of Salem in the 1920s and 1930s. The two-and-a-half-story building features Flemish bond brick walls, a stucco basement, seven bays with brick relieving arches above the six-over-six sash windows, a cove and bead cornice, gabled roof, dormers, and two interior end chimneys. The building retains its original architectural features and is still used to house Salem College students. When Bitting was built, it was the only dormitory on campus with suites and was meant for senior student housing.

References:

Albright, Frank, and Frank Horton. "History of Properties in Old Salem." Manuscript. Siewers Archive Room, Dale H. Gramley Library, Salem College, Winston-Salem, NC, 1970.

Hartley, Michael O., and Martha B. Boxley. Salem Survey 1997. Winston-Salem, NC: Old Salem, Inc., 1997.

Hartley, Michael O., and Martha B. Boxley. Survey Files for Salem National Register Landmark District Proposal. Winston-Salem, NC: Old Salem, Inc., 1997.

Old Salem Historic District [including Salem College]. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/ National Park Service, 1966.

Rauschenberg, Bradford L. Salem College Study. Winston-Salem, NC: Wachovia Historical Society, 1983.

Salem College Bulletin: Alumnae Record Issue 6, no. 1 [n.d.].

Taylor, Gwynne Stephens. From Frontier to Factory: An Architectural History of Forsyth County. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1981.

Taylor, Susan. Salem Campus Tour. [Salem, NC: Salem College], 1990.