The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Campus

Click on image titles for larger views.

Institution Name: Berea College
Original/Historic Place Name: Campus
Location on Campus: Chestnut St.
Date(s) of Construction:

1910	campus plan Olmsted Brothers

Designer: Olmsted Brothers
Type of Place: Campus arrangement
Style: (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Function:

1910-present (2006)

master plan (campus)

Narrative:
The original campus plan for Berea divided the college into five separate areas: Academy; Foundation; Industrial; Normal; and College. That plan was divided by a state highway and natural or "legislated" boundaries created by local administration. In 1904 with the Kentucky Day Law, the Board of Trustees split the College's endowment, allocating half the funds for the construction of a campus for the education of "The Negro Races " outside Louisville--The Lincoln Institute. When Olmsted designed that campus, President Frost of Berea invited Olmsted to consult on the construction and betterment of the Berea College campus. In 1910, the campus was surveyed and suggestions were made on campus design. A College Square was developed with Edwards (north), College Row (west), and Main Street (east) as the center of the campus plan. With the construction of Hutchins Library the campus plan was rearranged to a different quadrangle. The master plan (ca. 1915) was reaffirmed and reworked by Johnson, Johnson, & Roby (Michigan) in 1992.

References:

Sheire, James. Berea College--Lincoln Hall. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1975.

Sleet, Younette, and Melissa Gross. Boone Tavern Hotel [Berea College]. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1995.