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Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block (sometimes known as "Voorhees Campus") of about 28 acres (0.11 km²) located on the College Avenue Campus of
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. An eclectic mix of architectural styles, Voorhees Mall is lined by many historic academic buildings. The block is bound by Hamilton Street (to the east), George Street (north), College Avenue (south) and Seminary Place (west). At the mall's western end, across Seminary Place, is the campus of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, whose history is intertwined with the early history of Rutgers University. Across Hamilton Street is the block called
Old Queens Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, wa ...
, the seat of the university. The mall bisecting the block was formed when Bleecker Place, a city street, was closed. After several generous donations to Rutgers, including the first building dedicated to housing the institution's library (now known as Voorhees Hall), the grassy mall was named for Ralph and Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees. Voorhees Mall was once the site of annual commencement exercises for Rutgers College.


Selected Buildings


Riverstede (1868)

Professor George H. Cook (for whom the Cook campus of Rutgers University was named) erected this Italianate-Victorian brownstone which he named ''Riverstede'' as his home in 1868. It later was the home of
William Henry Steele Demarest William Henry Steele Demarest (May 12, 1863 – June 23, 1956) was an American Dutch Reformed minister and the eleventh President of Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) serving from 1906 to 1924. Biography May 12, 1863 in Hudson, New ...
(1863–1956), eleventh President of Rutgers University (from 1906 to 1924), during his tenure as President of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary from 1924 to 1934. Today, Riverstede houses various offices for the Rutgers School of Social Work, however, previously it was home to Campus Information Services, the Raritan Club, the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, the ''Partisan Review'', a female graduate student residence, the Rutgers Religious Ministry and the Office of Career Services.


New Jersey Hall (1889)

New Jersey Hall was built from funds authorized by the New Jersey state legislature to construct an "Agricultural Hall" to house the State Experiment Station (now part of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, formerly Cook College). It initially housed the college's departments of Chemistry and Biology. Today, New Jersey Hall houses the university's Department of Economics and the New Jersey Bureau of Economic Research. It is primarily an office building. Recent efforts have been made to rename New Jersey Hall in honor of Nobel laureate Milton Friedman who graduated from
Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in 1932.


Ballantine Gymnasium (1894-1931)

Ballantine Hall was mostly destroyed by fire in the 1930s. The rear of the building remained standing, and when the
College Avenue Gymnasium College Avenue Gymnasium is an athletic facility on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is the second gymnasium built on the site. The first was built in 1892 on the site of College Field, the for ...
was built a few blocks away, Ballantine Hall was used for classroom space. The
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...
expanded over the remains of the Ballantine Gym, and the intact tiled pool is today used for storage. Parts of the old Ballantine facade can be seen in the parking lot behind the art museum and in the George Street entranc


Voorhees Hall (1903)

Originally built to house the
Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
library, this building is named for Ralph and Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees. The main library was later moved to the Archibald S. Alexander Library. Voorhees Hall later hosted the University Art Gallery which became the
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...
in 1983. Today it houses the university's Department of
Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
and the Art History Library which was expanded into an addition to Voorhees Hall in 2002.


Murray Hall (1909)

Originally built to house the College of Engineering, Murray Hall was designed by alumnus Douwe D. Williamson (Rutgers College Class of 1870) and Frederick P. Hill (Rutgers College Class of 1883). Built partly with a gift from steel magnate and industrialist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
, Murray Hall was named for David Murray, professor of mathematics and astronomy at Rutgers College and college trustee. Murray assisted George Cook in establishing the Rutgers Scientific School (now part of Cook College) and in getting Rutgers named a land-grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862. Today, Murray Hall houses classrooms and the university's Department of English and Writing Program; the College of Engineering (now named the School of Engineering) has since relocated to Busch Campus in Piscataway.


Milledoler Hall (1910)

Originally called the Chemistry Building, Milledoler Hall is named for Reverend
Philip Milledoler Philip Milledoler (September 22, 1775 – September 22, 1852) was an American Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed minister and the fifth President of Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) serving from 1825 until 1840. Biography Philip Milledol ...
(1775–1852), professor of didactic theology in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, trustee of Queen's College, and fifth President of
Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
from 1825-1840. Rev. Milledoler was also the person who suggested the name of the college be changed from Queen's College to Rutgers College in 1825. He wanted to honor Colonel Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War hero and a member of his congregation. Currently, this building houses several administrative offices for
Rutgers College Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
, including the Office of the Dean, as well as one lecture hall.


Graduate School of Education

The Graduate School of Education was originally part of the Graduate School-New Brunswick, founded in 1876 and one of the oldest graduate schools in the country. The GSE separated from the Graduate School in 1923 and its present building was constructed in 1961. Supported by stilts at its southern end, the Graduate School of Education is built in the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Cantilever style of architecture.


Academic Buildings

The Academic Buildings were constructed at the eastern end of Voorhees Mall in the mid-2010s, replacing the former New Brunswick Theological Seminary campus. The land for the building was acquired as part of a deal between Rutgers and the Seminary, in which Rutgers took over most of Holy Hill (upon which the former Seminary campus was built) in exchange for constructing a new Seminary campus. Each building contains classrooms, lecture halls, and study spaces, with the northern building housing some Rutgers academic departments.


Honors College

The Honors College was constructed in the mid-2010s alongside the Academic Buildings. The building, a mixture of seminar-style classrooms, lounges, and four floors of traditional student dorm rooms, opened in Fall 2015 alongside the launch of the Honors College program.


School of Social Work

The Rutgers School of Social Work was built as the home of the School of Ceramics (now the Department of Materials Science and Engineering) in 1922. The structural and design elements of the building are fabricated entirely of ceramic materials donated by the ceramics industry of New Jersey. The third floor classroom has a beautifully enormous gas-fired fireplace which was state of the art when constructed. The floor of the room consists entirely of hand-laid artistic tile, including an unusual feature, a pre-Nazi use of a then-innocuous pattern now known as the swastika. The Ceramic Engineering Department moved to Busch Campus in 1963 when the Engineering Building was constructed.


Van Dyck Hall (1928)

Van Dyck Hall was built in 1928 and named after the first dean of Rutgers College, Francis C Van Dyck. Originally, it was part of the Rutgers Scientific School and housed the Physics department. Today, Van Dyck Hall houses classrooms and the university's Department of History.


Ford Hall

Ford Hall was the second dormitory on campus, built in 1915. Underneath the dorm is an old tunnel, dug in the 18th century to mine copper. The tunnel stretches from Mine Street, a few blocks down College Avenue and supposedly was used to help runaway slaves as part of the Underground Railroad and to smuggle alcohol during Prohibition . Ford Hall was most recently used a graduate student
dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
, but is currently closed and being converted to offices for the School of Arts and Sciences. It is named for John U. Ford, a trustee of the university and former entrepreneur in the rubber industry. The building was designed by architect Bertram Goodhue, also known for Gothic revival churches, the Los Angeles Public Library, and the Nebraska state capitol building.


Scott Hall

Named for Austin Scott (1848–1922), the tenth President of Rutgers University and a history and political science professor, Scott Hall is a modern structure built in 1963. It is used as one of the campus's major classroom buildings, along with Murray Hall, Hardenbergh Hall, Frelinghuysen Hall, and Campbell Hall. The building's large auditorium classrooms are often used for movies, plays, and other gatherings as well as classes.


William the Silent

Fenton B. Turck, a New York physician and biologist, with the assistance of railroad magnate, and longtime Rutgers alumnus and trustee, Leonor F. Loree (Rutgers College Class of 1877), anonymously donated a statue of Prince William the Silent (1533–1584) of the House of Nassau and later Prince of Orange, who was the leader of the Dutch rebellion against the Spanish that set off the
Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...
and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. Turck, of Dutch extraction, intended to give the statue to the University to signify the institution's Dutch roots. He kept the statue in the basement of his laboratory in Manhattan for eight years before it was unveiled on the present Voorhees Mall on 9 June 1928. According to student tradition, the statue is said to whistle when a virgin passes by, and has therefore remained "silent." Chondroff, Michael. ''The Rutgers Students Unofficial Guide to College: A Book of Bests and Worsts of Rutgers Students' Life at College'' (East Brunswick, New Jersey: Arm Publishing, 1998). This statue is the only replica of the Lodewyck Rowyer original that stands in The Hague.


References


External links


Rutgers University
{{coord, 40.5005, -74.4471, region:US-NJ_type:edu, display=title Rutgers University buildings Buildings and structures in New Brunswick, New Jersey Tourist attractions in New Brunswick, New Jersey