Old Main (University of Arkansas)
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Old Main, University of Arkansas
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Old Main in 2007, with the recently added south tower clock face
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| Location | Fayetteville, AR |
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| Coordinates | 36°04′07″N 94°10′18″W / 36.06870°N 94.17170°WCoordinates: 36°04′07″N 94°10′18″W / 36.06870°N 94.17170°W |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architect | John Mills Van Osdel |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000131 |
| Added to NRHP | June 15, 1970 |
Old Main is the oldest building on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is one of the most recognizable symbols of the University (especially to alumni and residents of the state of Arkansas), and of higher education in general in Arkansas.
Old Main was constructed between 1873 and 1875 as part of a land grant for the state of Arkansas. At this time it was known as University Hall. It was designed by Chicago architect John Mills Van Osdel, and construction was carried out by William Mayes of the firm of Mayes and Oliver. G. N. Wright was one of the contractors. In 1873, the University of Arkansas purchased Van Osdel's plans for the University Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (demolished in 1938) and erected an identical structure.
The contract to construct the Hall was signed by the superintendent of public instruction, Joseph Carter Corbin, who was the highest elected African American official in Arkansas during Reconstruction.
Most of the building materials used in Old Main came from local areas, because the nearest river port was 60 miles away and the nearest railroad was 150 miles away. 136 miles of lumber came by oxen-drawn wagons from the Peter Van Winkle Sawmill near historic War Eagle Mill in Benton County. The red exterior bricks were made from clay dug on campus and fired in kilns built west of Old Main. The brown sandstone used for the foundation and basement was also quarried from near the building site. The five-story building contained 2,600,000 bricks when originally constructed.
After nearly a hundred years of use, Old Main had really begun to show its age, and in 1981 the building was closed for safety reasons. After a considerable period of debate over whether to restore the old building or tear it down, restoration work began in the summer of 1989 and Old Main was renovated extensively. The renovation proceeded ahead of schedule, and it was finished during the spring semester of 1991 at a cost of $10 million. It was rededicated during the Fall of 1991.
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