HEd History – Old Main – Who Knew There Were So Many?

Arkansas (my favorite of the external images)

The main, if not only, academic building, on college campuses in the second half of the 19th century was often referred to as Old Main. After hearing many colleagues over the year refer to their college’s unique “Old Main”, I decided to look into campuses with Old Main buildings and came up with a list of 75 of which 66 still stand today.

Penn State

Almost all the Old Main buildings (>80%) we know of today were built between 1866 (Kutztown) and 1903 (Texas State and Texas Women’s), a period of less than 40 years. The name, Old Main, is comparable to today’s reference to the main administration building – one which almost colleges have. This is not a list of all the universities having a campus building that includes the word “Main” without the modifier “Old.” That list would be much longer.

Franklin College

The first recorded Old Main still standing today is at Franklin College in Indiana (1847). The most recent Old Main was built in 2017 at Mississippi State, to honor an original Old Main which burned in 1959. The oldest recorded mention of Old Main was at Miami of Ohio, for a building built in 1818. However, that building was not originally named Old Main and records indicated that it was not referred to as Old Main until other universities started doing the same for their primary academic building. In light of us, I would hypothesize that there were more Old Main buildings, not in existence today, that are not on this list.

The most often viewed of the Old Main’s was determined using a search of the frequency of images for Old Main on Google. Obviously, the number of alumni has a major factor on this ranking. Feedback from readers always welcomed.

Baylor

10 Most Online Viewed “Old Main” college buildings

  1. Penn State
  2. Arkansas
  3. Baylor
  4. Kutztown
  5. Wayne State
  6. Texas State
  7. Utah State
  8. Arizona State
  9. Widener
  10. Eastern Illinois
Utah State

Listing of 75 “Old Main” College Buildings

  1. Agnes Scott College (1891)                                                  
  2. Alderson-Broaddus College (1909-1978)                       
  3. Alma College (1886-1969)                       
  4. Almira College (1864, now Greenville University)
  5. Arizona State University (1898)
  6. Augsburg University (1901)                                                  
  7. Augustana College (1893)
  8. Baylor University (1887)
  9. Bethany College (1871)
  10. Bloomsburg University (1869)
  11. California University of Pennsylvania (1868)
  12. Case Western Reserve University (1885)
  13. Central Michigan University (1893-1925)                       
  14. College of Wooster (1870-1901)
  15. Drake University (1883)
  16. Eastern Illinois University (1899)
  17. Elmhurst University (1878)
  18. Franklin College (1847) Oldest still standing
  19. Franklin & Marshall College (1856) 3rd oldest still standing
  20. Frostburg State University (1898)
  21. Gannon University (1893)
  22. Geneva College (1881)
  23. George Washington University (1870)
  24. Grand View University (1896)
  25. Hamline University (1884)
  26. Illinois State University (1860-1958)
  27. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1875)
  28. Iowa State University (1868-1902)                                       
  29. Iowa Wesleyan University (1854) 2nd oldest still standing
  30. Knox College (1857) 4th oldest still standing
  31. Kutztown University (1866)
  32. Lakeland University (1888)
  33. Macalester College (1888)
  34. Mansfield University (?)
  35. Martin Luther College (1884)
  36. Marshall University (1907)                                                  
  37. McMurry University (1923) 2nd newest
  38. Miami University of Ohio (1816-1858)                                                       
  39. Minot State University (1912) 5th newest
  40. Minot State University-Bottineau (1908)                                                  
  41. Mississippi State University (1880-1959, 2017) Newest
  42. Nebraska Wesleyan University (1888)
  43. North Central College (1870)
  44. North Dakota State College of Science (1893)
  45. North Dakota State University (1892)
  46. North Park University (1894)
  47. Pacific Lutheran University (1891)
  48. Pennsylvania State University (1867)
  49. Sam Houston State University (1889)
  50. Shippensburg University (1870)
  51. Slippery Rock University (1893)
  52. Southern Utah University (1898)
  53. St. Olaf College (1877)
  54. SUNY New Paltz (1909)                                                  
  55. Suomi College (1900, now Finlandia U.)              
  56. Texas State University (1903)                                                  
  57. Texas Woman’s University (1903)                                                  
  58. University of Arizona (1891)
  59. University of Arkansas (1875)  
  60. University of Central Arkansas (1919) 4th newest
  61. University of Colorado (1876)
  62. University of Findlay (1888-1912)
  63. University of North Carolina Pembroke (1923) 2nd newest  
  64. University of South Dakota (1883)
  65. University of Texas at Austin (1882-1935)                                       
  66. University of Wisconsin Stevens Point (1894)
  67. University of Wyoming (1886)
  68. Utah State University (1890)  
  69. Vassar College (1861) 5th oldest still standing
  70. Wartburg College (1879)
  71. Washington & Jefferson College (1875)
  72. Wayne State University (1896)
  73. Western Washington University (1896)
  74. Westminster College (1855-1861, 1929)
  75. Widener University (1867)
Eastern Illinois