Morrill Hall - History

History

Morrill Hall was the University's first newly constructed building, built at a cost of $70,111 and opening on October 7, 1868 as South University Building, or less formally, as South Hall. It is the southernmost of the three buildings which comprise the "Stone Row" which forms the west side of Cornell's Arts Quadrangle, all constructed of Ithaca bluestone quarried from the base of Libe Slope. An early Cornell professor, Goldwin Smith, said dismissively of these three buildings that "nothing can redeem them but dynamite." While all three of these historic buildings remain standing, each has undergone periods of extensive renovation to overcome the limitations of their original structural designs.

While the building primarily provides a home for language-related departments such as Romance Studies, Russian Literature, and Linguistics, Morrill Hall has previously served as the headquarters for a much broader variety of departments. Notably, the fourth floor of the building housed the Cornell Law School in its entirety when it first opened in 1887. Also, the Psychology Department was located in Morrill Hall until its current headquarters were established in Uris Hall, and the "university Co-Operative store, familiarly the 'Co-Op'" was located in the basement of Morrill during the early 20th century.