Old West is the first building of the campus of Dickinson College in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. It was designed by

Benjamin Henry Latrobe Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 – September 3, 1820) was an Anglo-American neoclassical architect who emigrated to the United States. He was one of the first formally trained, professional architects in the new United States, draw ...

in 1803 and completed in 1822, and is a fine example of Federal period architecture. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1962 for its architecture and its association with Latrobe.

History

The construction of Old West, known then as ''New College'', was authorized and began in 1798. The effort was in response to the complaints that students could not live at the College. On June 20, 1799, the first cornerstone was laid by John Keen of Carpenters Co.,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. While in construction in 1803, however, the brick portion of West College burnt down. In an attempt to rebuild a building that would be compatible with that of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, Judge Brackenridge went to Philadelphia to consult Benjamin Latrobe, who had remodeled Princeton's

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...

and had completed extensive design work on the Capitol Building in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Latrobe was a willing contributor to the new design of West College. In a letter dated May 18, 1803, a copy of which may be seen in the Dickinson archives, Benjamin Henry Latrobe replies to Judge Brackenridge's request for drawings in great detail. Latrobe addresses the aspect of weather in Carlisle because of the extreme temperatures and amounts of moisture it acquires annually in the winter months. He explains that his design of the building allows for optimum light absorption through the windows and explains that the stone provides adequate shielding from the strong, crisp wind. The attention to stone as a weather-proof material was to have a lasting effect. OLD WEST, DICKINSON COLLEGE

Today, Old West houses the presidential and other administrative offices. Memorial Hall in particular is the home of various distinguished speakers, cultural symposiums, and mass every Sunday night. It was declared a

in 1962. and

References

{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1822 Dickinson College Buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Benjamin Henry Latrobe buildings and structures National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 1822 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

See also

References