Biddle Memorial Hall is a historic building located on the campus of

Johnson C. Smith University Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a private historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SAC ...

in Charlotte,

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County () is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,115,482, making it th ...

. It was built in 1883, and is a 3 1/2-story, five bay Romanesque-style brick and stone building on a raised basement. It features an elaborate

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

named Big Johnson, known as the tallest clock tower that plays the Westminster Chimes every 15 minutes to mark the passing of time in the Charlotte Uptown area. Which can be heard a mile away. With a pyramidal

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof and baritizans at each corner. It was built as the main building for the school established in 1867 by the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church for the education of African-American students. It was named in 1923 to honor Mary D. Biddle who donated $1,400 to the school. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1975.

References

External links

Biddle Hall info
Clock towers in North Carolina Johnson C. Smith University African-American history in Charlotte, North Carolina University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina School buildings completed in 1883 Buildings and structures in Charlotte, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina 1883 establishments in North Carolina Brick buildings and structures in North Carolina {{MecklenburgCountyNC-NRHP-stub