College Hall (University of Pennsylvania)

College Hall
General information
Type Academic, research
Location University City
Address 3450 Woodland Walk
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Opened 1872 (1872)[1]
Owner University of Pennsylvania
Height
Architectural Victorian gothic
Technical details
Material Stone
Size 110,266 square feet (10,244.0 m2)
Floor count 6
Lifts/elevators 1
Grounds 0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Design and construction
Architect Thomas W. Richards
College Hall, University of Pennsylvania
College Hall in 1892
Location Bounded by Walnut, Spruce, 34th, and 36th Sts., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 39°57′4.6″N 75°11′37.5″W / 39.951278°N 75.193750°W / 39.951278; -75.193750Coordinates: 39°57′4.6″N 75°11′37.5″W / 39.951278°N 75.193750°W / 39.951278; -75.193750
Area 0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built 1872
Architect Thomas W. Richards
Architectural style Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference # 78002444[2]
Added to NRHP February 14, 1978


College Hall is the oldest building on the West Philadelphia campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to its construction, the university was located on Ninth Street in Center City, Philadelphia. The building was designed by Thomas Webb Richards and completed in 1873. The characteristic green color of the building is due to its composition of green serpentine stone.

College Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places February 14, 1978.[3] It is also a contributing property of the University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District.

The building currently houses the undergraduate admissions office, the university president's offices, the Department of History, and classrooms.[4] The top floor of College Hall is also home to the Philomathean Society, a literary society founded in 1813.

Although College Hall and the now-demolished Blanchard Hall were rumored to be the model for the Victorian Gothic mansion in The Addams Family cartoons, the cartoonist Charles Addams repeatedly denied the claims.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "David Rittenhouse Laboratory". Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ Application for Historical Registry
  4. ↑ Virtual Tour of Penn's Campus: College Hall
  5. ↑ Thomas, George; Brownlee, David Bruce (2000). Building America's First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0812235159.
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