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Representative
of the Federal style, this building is a three-story brick structure with
a half basement and a low-pitched, gabled-roof. Features include a decorative
cornice, flemish bond brickwork, and granite lintels, sills, and stringcourse.
Granite steps ascend to twin entrances from both quadrangles.
Often referred to as Franklin College, this building was originally named for Benjamin Franklin and patterned after Connecticut Hall at Yale University. John Billups completed constuction in 1806, and Old College became the University's first permanent structure, housing students, faculty, tutors, servants, and classrooms. During the Civil War, the building sheltered refugee families until the Confederate government requisitioned the building for a hospital. |
In the 1880s, the building was known as the Summery House after the family which operated it in a boarding house manner. Vacant, deteriorated and threatened with demolition i 1908, Old College was restored by the University. During World War II, the U.S. Navy briefly use the University's facilities as one of five naval preflight schools and renovated the interior of Old College, which is currently utilized as administrative offices.