Old Main and Chemistry Building are two, connected, historic buildings built in 1867 and 1883 located on the campus of

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...

Description

The Old Main building is four-stories high with stucco and

Wissahickon schist The Wissahickon Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. It is named for the Wissahickon gorge in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. In Maryland formations, the term "Wissahickon" is no longer used. Rocks in this c ...

stone exterior. It has a two-pitched roof with a central grand pediment and two minor flanking pediments. Atop the grand pediment is a unique "dome" structure and atop both minor pediments are matching

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

. The measurements of the building are 243 feet (east to west) by 65 feet (East end) and 55 feet (West end) with walls that are 2 1/2 feet thick. The discrepancy in the measurements is due to renovations in 1883 after a fire destroyed the upper floors on the eastern end. The symmetry of the building was lost with the eastern addition of an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

, classrooms and dormitory space. The Chemistry Building is adjacent to Old Main and is a three-story building measuring 37 feet by 51 feet. It is connected to Old Main by a

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

and plank-board walk-way extending from the 2nd floor of each structure. It was built in order to separate dangerous laboratory conditions from the dormitory area of the Old Main building. ''Note:'' This includes

History

The Old Main building was built in 1867 and the Chemistry building in 1883. Old Main served as the primary quarters for the Pennsylvania Military Academy and Pennsylvania Military College from 1867 to 1957. After expansion of the school and construction of additional facilities, Old Main was used as the center of administrative services for the College. Both buildings were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1978.

References

University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Delaware County, Pennsylvania Chester, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania University and college administration buildings in the United States {{DelawareCountyPA-NRHP-stub