SUI Red Brick Campus – The Golden Age Of The State University of Iowa.

Recently, while doing some research on the University of Iowa Digital Library website, I ran across a very intriguing campus map from the past…

RedBrickCampuslogo — This map shows the location of twelve different buildings on the SUI campus, with one building Science Hall (Calvin Hall) notated twice. This notation, of course, references the infamous move (1905) of Science Hall from University Square to its present location at the corner of Jefferson and North Capitol Streets. By using the term ‘Calvin Hall’, the map’s creator gives us a clue that this map was obviously drawn up after 1964 – the year when Science Hall (Geology Building) was renamed for Professor Samuel Calvin.

On this campus map – which I’m proposing was drawn up in the 1970’s – the map’s creator typed in a phrase that grabbed my attention…

Location of The Red Brick Campus of the University of Iowa from 1865 to 1894.

It’s that title – The Red Brick Campus – that has sent me on a five-month journey, digging deeper into the facts behind this colorful phrase. So, allow me if you will, to now take you back in our time capsule to 1895 and The SUI Red Brick Campus…

Let’s begin our study with this beautiful sepia-tone photo of the SUI campus taken from the west side of the Iowa River around 1895. You’ll notice (below) that I’ve placed some reference numbers on the photo so we can align the major SUI buildings with the Red Brick Campus Map (also below).

*This photo is looking east across the Iowa River.*

*This campus map is ‘looking west’ – reading from the bottom (east) to the top (west).*

Obviously, the name – The SUI Red Brick Campus – comes from the fact that nearly all of the twelve buildings on the 1895 SUI campus, save Old Capitol, were constructed using red brick. Sadly, most of the photographs of these classic structures were shot in black-and-white or sepia tones, leaving us to only imagine the amazing shades of red that must have dominated the SUI campus at the turn of the 20th century.

Only those few buildings that appeared on colorized penny postcards of the day, or Calvin Hall, which still stands today, offer us a glimpse at the red brick of these stately SUI buildings – all built between 1861 and 1894.

*(P-0191)* This rare colorized **Iowa City Business Section Birds Eye View** postcard gives us a sense of what the SUI campus might have looked like – note the Hall of Pharmacy & Chemistry (far left) and Close Hall (center) along with other downtown buildings constructed with red brick.

Here’s Sylvanus Johnson, Iowa City’s first brickmaker. Johnson was a Connecticut native who worked in his father’s brickyard before moving to Iowa in 1839. I like to call him Mr. Red Brick since it was his brickyard in Outlot 24 (at the corner of Burlington and Gilbert Streets) that made much of the building material used in the earliest days of The Red Brick Campus. His first bricks were made on April 15, 1840 and went into the construction of a boot store on Iowa Avenue just west of Dubuque Street. Click here to read more.

Another prominent brick maker of the day, Dennis P. Greeley, worked at a kiln on the north side of town and was a fireman at the Old Stone Capitol. In a September 1856 letter to Issac A. Wetherby – Iowa City’s famed photographer – Greeley reported that his friend would be amazed at the change in the city since his last visit, writing…

There are a great many Brick buildings going up this season – the place has altered very much.

Before I walk you through the list of all twelve buildings of The Red Brick Campus, allow me here, on these two maps – 1839 city street map (above left) and 1868 artist’s map (above right) – to show you the same area of land represented on our 1895 campus map. On these early maps, you’ll find the first four buildings of the SUI campus – three of which were red brick buildings. #1 Old Capitol (1840) made of limestone, #2 Mechanics Academy (1842) located two blocks east of University/Capitol Square, #3 South Hall (1861), and #4 North Hall (1865).

0-oldcapset — In this promotional piece from 1900, the University’s original four buildings are pictured. Note in 1900, Mechanics Academy (#2) was called Old Mercy Hospital, Old Capitol (#1) was called Central Building – or Central Hall, and North Hall (#4) was called Library Hall since it become the second home of the University Library (1882-1901).

So now, allow me to introduce you to the buildings of the State University of Iowa in 1895 – The SUI Red Brick Campus. If you click on the picture or follow the “click here” link, you’ll discover more of the interesting story behind each of these classic structures. I hope you will enjoy our SUI Red Brick Campus Tour!

**1. Old Capitol:** **The Icon of SUI** **(1840 – present)**. On July 4, 1840, Territorial Governor Robert Lucas came from Burlington to dedicate the cornerstone of the new Stone Capitol. The date of the University’s founding is February 25, 1847, only two months after the beginning of Iowa statehood (December 28, 1846). In 1857, when the State Capitol finally moved to Des Moines, the State bequeathed Old Capitol to the University. Today, it’s become the Icon of the University of Iowa. Click here for more details.

**2. Mechanics Academy: The Cradle of SUI** **(1842 – 1897)**. Mechanics Academy not only housed the first classes for University students (1855), but it also became the first home of University Hospital and Mercy Hospital (1873 – 1897), the first location of the University Library (1855 – 1859), and the first office of the State of Iowa Historical Society (1862 -1865). Click here for more details.

**3. South Hall: SUI’s Ten-Chimneyed One** **(1861 – 1901)**. South Hall will be remembered as the three-story, ten-chimneyed, red-brick building which stood directly south of Old Capitol. It served the University for forty years, first as a dormitory/boarding hall and later as a classroom building, providing a meeting place for students and faculty alike. Tragedy fell upon South Hall on March 10, 1901, when along with the adjoining Medical Building, it was completely destroyed by fire. Click here for more details.

**4. North Hall: The Grandfather of SUI** **(1865 – 1949).** North Hall was constructed in 1865, to be used, in part, as a University Chapel. The original recommendation, made by Governor Samuel Kirkwood, requested funds for a chemistry laboratory, chapel and astronomical observatory, and over the years, North Hall, the two-and-a-half-story, red-brick classic, certainly became a multi-use facility. Until it was demolished during the summer of 1949, its greatest distinction was that of being the oldest existing structure actually built for the University’s use – grandfathered into on-going campus purposes from its glory days to 1949. Click here for more details.

**5. Medical Building: SUI’s Ill-Fated Medical Experiment (1882 – 1901).** The Medical Building was built in 1882 and was constructed to house the growing Medical College. Over its short 19-year existence, this stately building, located adjacent to South Hall, was twice remodeled – the last time in 1888. Twice struck by lightning and once having its roof torn off in a wind storm, the nemesis which seemed to pursue this building completed its work of ruin on March 10, 1901 when a fire made short work of the interior wooden construction. Click here for more details.

**6 and 6A. Science Hall:** **SUI’s Only Mobile Home (1884 – present)**. Science Hall, known as well as the Geology Building, is a three-story red-brick building built in 1884 for the purpose of housing the sciences. To make room for the new Hall of Natural Science (Macbride Hall), Science Hall was moved during the summer of 1905, inch by inch over a distance of 200 feet to its present location on the corner of Capital and Jefferson Streets. Today, Calvin Hall, as it is now known, stands as the sole surviving relic from The SUI Red Brick Campus that once was. Click here for more details.

**7. The Hall of Pharmacy & Chemistry: SUI’s Controversial Park Place (1890 – 1973)**. It was decided in 1890 to locate this new building – dedicated to the study of Chemistry and Pharmacy – in the City Park area – a controversial idea indeed! Once opened two years later, the facility began showing signs of faulty construction almost immediately. In 1922, it was remodeled into a medical library – East Hall Annex – and in 1930, the Electrical Engineering Department made it its headquarters until its demise in 1973. And even in its passing, there was even more controversy! Click here for more details.

**8. Close Hall: SUI’s Home for Jesus, Jumpshots & Journalism (1890 – 1968).** Made of red brick, construction of the building was completed in 1891. The cost was supplemented through a contribution of $10,000 by Mrs. Helen S. Close in order for the YMCA and YWCA (Young Men & Women Christian Association) to have a ministry home near campus. The three-story building contained offices and recitation rooms on the first floor while the second floor housed literary societies. The basement of the building housed a gymnasium as well as an industrial chemistry lab. In 1924, Close Hall became the home of the School of Journalism and The Daily Iowan press room. A fire destroyed the second floor in 1940, but the building was saved and utilized until its demise in 1968. Click here for more details.

**9. Observatory #2: SUI’s Eye to the Sky (1891 – 1923)**. During the Civil War years, Governor Samuel Kirkwood believed there was a great need for our State University to have an astronomical observatory. The first one was built in 1874, a small brick building located at the north end of Clinton Street (where the President’s Home now stands). In 1891, a second observatory was erected on the SUI Red Brick Campus, located near the newly-built Science Hall, directly west of where the Dental Building would be placed in 1894. The building remained there until 1923, when brought down to make room for the new University (Jessup) Hall. Click here for more details.

**10. Dental Building: SUI’s Eye Tooth for 80 Years (1894 – 1975).** Built in 1894, this three-story, red brick and wooden structure was the second home of the College of Dentistry. But even before the doors opened for classes in 1895, it was already too small to accommodate the growing enrollment. For decades, long after the College of Dentistry moved on, stalwart Old Dental remained ensconced, being used for a variety of purposes over the years before its passing in 1975. Click here for more details.

**11. Homeopathic Medical Building #2: SUI’s 2nd Medical Opinion (1895 – 1929)**. For much of the 19th century, there were two approaches to the way doctors treated sickness and disease: allopathic medicine vs. homeopathic medicine. In 1876, the University decided to add a Homeopathic Medical Department to the school’s curriculum, but not without a lot of controversy. Built in 1878, the first Homeopathic Medical Building was a two-story red-brick structure built on a small lot on Clinton Street. In 1895, a new, and much larger red-brick Homeopathic Hospital and Medical Building was ready for occupancy, setting up camp on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Dubuque Streets. Click here for more details.

**12. Unity Hall: SUI’s Gathering Place (1870 – 1932).** Originally the Unitarian Church, the University rented this unique red-brick facility for student activities from the late 1880’s until 1906, when it purchased the building for multiple uses. With a major renovation in 1911, Unity Hall, also called Old Unity, became the home for Iowa’s first Student Union, providing meeting places for student clubs, extracurricular activities and dining in the basement. Outgrowing the space in 1913, the Union went through two more locations in three years, only to return to Unity Hall in 1916, sharing it with the School of Music until the new Memorial Union opened in 1925. Click here for more details.

**13a – 13d. The Forgotten Four: SUI’s Little Engines that Could (1860’s – 1923)**. In 1895, there were four additional facilities on the SUI Red Brick Campus, all small buildings not shown on most maps since they were technically not full-sized facilities. Yet, throughout their life spans, all four played vitally important roles in the day-to-day work of this growing university. From the very beginning (1860) when University Square was the only campus (outside of Mechanics Academy), the **Water Closet** (13b) met one of the most primal human needs; the **Livery Barn** (13c) housed all transportation needs of the nineteenth century; the **Armory & Power Plant** (13a) supplied heat to the campus; while the tiny **Weights & Measures Building** (13d) gave students and faculty a place to grab a smoke between classes! Click here for more details.

*Click here to read more about The SUI Red Brick Campus and its place in Iowa City “skyscraper” history…*

1910Pentacrest — *(P-0205)* *A view of SUI in 1905.*

In 1900, new University president, George MacLean (1899-1911) picked up on President Charles Schaeffer’s ideas of a modernized campus and proposed a dramatic “New University” plan to eliminate all of the existing buildings surrounding Old Capitol, replacing them with three fine buildings similar in size and style to the new Liberal Arts Building (1898). In a letter to the president of the University of Oklahoma, MacLean wrote:

The overwhelming majority of universities have hodge podge buildings which are dropped here and there like ostrich eggs in the sand . . . at great cost, we are rescuing this university from these defects.