Dickinson College - Campus

Campus

Dickinson College sits on a quiet campus two blocks from the main square in the historic small town of Carlisle, the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the site of the nation's second oldest military base, Carlisle Barracks, now the home of the U.S. Army War College. The campus is heavily wooded and characterized by limestone-clad buildings.

The grammar school which would become Dickinson College in 1783 was founded in 1773 and housed in a small, two-room brick building on Liberty Avenue, near Bedford Street and Pomfret Street. Upon the College's founding the building was expanded and was Dickinson's first home. In 1799 the Penn family sold 7 acres (2.8 ha) on the western edge of Carlisle to the nascent college, on which it has made its home ever since. On June 20 of that year the cornerstone was laid by John Montgomery, a founding trustee of the college, for a building on the new land. The twelve-room building burned to the ground on February 3, 1803, just five weeks after opening its doors, and the college returned to its previous accommodations.

Within weeks of the fire, a national fundraising campaign was launched, enticing donations from President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Chief Justice John Marshall and many others. Benjamin Latrobe, already famous for his work on the Bank of Pennsylvania and Princeton University's Nassau Hall, and soon-to-be Architect of the Capitol, was chosen to design the new structure. Latrobe's design for the building, now known as "West College," or more fondly as "Old West," featured monumental and classical elements within a simple and subdued academic style. The building was to be capped with a classically inspired cupola graced by a figure of Triton, but the local craftsman instead created a mermaid, which has ever since been a symbol of the college. Latrobe, who donated his services to the college, visited the building for the first time in 1813. The total cost of West College topped $22,000 and, although classes began in 1805, work was not finished until 1822. More than 200 years after its doors opened for the first time, Old West is today the ceremonial heart of the college, as all students march through the open doors during convocation at the beginning of their freshman year, and march out the same doors to receive their degrees and graduate. Old West also houses the college administration, several classrooms, a computer lab, and the college chapel.

Throughout the 19th century Dickinson expanded across what has now become its main academic quadrangle, known formally as the John Dickinson Campus. Dickinson expanded across College Street to build the Holland Union Building and Waidner-Spahr Library, which along with several dormitories, makes up the Benjamin Rush Campus. Across High Street (U.S. Route 11) lies the Charles Nisbet Campus, home to the largest grouping of dormitories. The Dickinson School of Law, part of Penn State, lies directly to the south of the Nisbet Campus. Together these three grass-covered units compose the vast majority of the College's campus, though several outlying buildings surround these main areas. In addition, the College owns playing fields and a large organic farm, both of which are only a short distance from the main campus.

Buildings of note include:

• Althouse Hall - A science hall opened in 1958, Althouse housed the chemistry department until it moved to the new Rector Science Complex. Since the spring 2010 semester, this building houses the International Business and Management Program as well as the Economics department.

• Bosler Hall - Completed in 1886, the building was Dickinson's first purpose-built library. Today it houses foreign language classes.

• East College - Dickinson's second building, which at one time housed the college president and served as a dormitory and place of instruction. East College also served as Confederate hospital during the Battle of Carlisle in July 1863. Today East College houses the departments of religion, classical studies, English, and other humanities.

• Denny Hall - Originally completed in 1896 but destroyed by fire in 1904, the current building dates to 1905 and was given in memory of Harmar Denny and his family, several of whom are Dickinson alumni. Denny currently houses the departments of political science, history, anthropology, and archeology, amongst others.

• Holland Union Building (HUB) - Opened in 1964, the HUB is Dickinson's expansive student union, and hosts the cafeteria, snack bar, an organic cafe, student offices and services, and the bookstore.

• Kline Athletic Center - Finished in 1979, the Kline Center is a multipurpose facility that houses many of the varsity and intramural sports that Dickinson offers. In addition, the building features a modern fitness center, pool, indoor track, basketball, squash, and racquetball courts, and a climbing wall.

• Rector Science Complex - Opened in 2008, the new science complex, crowned by Stuart and James halls, joined with Tome Hall to create a completely unified interdisciplinary science campus that houses the departments of biology, chemistry, psychology and interdisciplinary programs in biochemistry, molecular biology and neuroscience. This building is was constructed on the site of James Hall, which formerly housed geology, psychology, and environmental science and was demolished in 2006.

• Stern Center for Global Education - Finished in 1885 and originally known as the Tome Scientific Hall, it was one of the nation's first science-only academic buildings. In 2000, a new science building was completed, itself taking the name Tome Hall. The Stern Center houses the college's global education programs and segments of the international studies, international business and management, and East Asian studies majors.

• Tome Hall - Opened in the year 2000, Tome is the home to physics, astronomy, math, and computer science.

• Waidner-Spahr Library - Opened as the Spahr Library in 1967, the building was a modern home for Dickinson's rapidly expanding collection. In 1997 the building was reopened as the Waidner-Spahr Library, after a massive expansion and renovation project. It houses the library's collection of over 510,000 volumes and 1,600 periodicals, as well as student study space and computer labs.

• Weiss Center - Originally the Alumni Gymnasium, the building which opened in 1929 was dramatically renovated in 1981 and now hosts the College's performing and fine arts departments. The building is also the home to the Trout Gallery, Dickinson's collection of fine arts.