Lawrence Hall (1885)
There are very few St. Cloud State buildings no longer are standing – and only one met its fate through disaster. The first Lawrence Hall, which opened in the fall of 1885, was the building. It stood on the same site of the second Lawrence Hall, the oldest standing campus building today, which opened in December 1905.
Lawrence Hall, 1900
Financing and Construction
The “Ladies Home” was the first building constructed as a campus student residence. It replaced the Stearns House, which, upon the opening of the Old Main building in 1874, served as the campus residence hall.
The 1883 state legislature appropriated $10,000 for construction. Architect and builder are unknown. Constructed in the Venetian Renaissance architectural style, the 1886/87 St. Cloud State course catalog described the building in depth: “built of cream-colored brick, three stories in height, 105 feet in length and 65 feet in depth, in the form of an L.” The catalog brags the building “affords the best accommodations to seventy-five young ladies and can furnish day-board to fifty more ladies…,” continuing that the “nearness of the Home to the school makes it peculiarly desirable during the winter months, saving a long walk through the cold and snow.”
The building was heated and ventilated “by the most perfect system known to architects – the Ruttan system,” which allowed temperature in each room to be between 68 and 70 degrees and “all of the air in each room is changed as often as every 20 minutes.” This system did away with fires in each room, “rendering the building practically fireproof.”
Naming
At the state normal board February 25, 1899, meeting, the building was renamed "Lawrence Hall" to honor faculty member Isabel Lawrence, the first campus building named in honor of an individual.
Isabel Lawrence, 1900-1920
Fire Destroys Building
The building was destroyed by fire on Saturday, January 14, 1905. Luckily, none of the 200 residents died and only a few injuries, including those of the firemen fighting the fire, were reported.
According to a St. Cloud Daily Times article from Monday, January 16, 1905, the fire was reported at 4:25pm on the building’s roof. St. Cloud State president Waite Shoemaker speculated the fire began in a defective flue. Despite the effort of the firemen, the roof collapsed, and the building could no longer be saved. Efforts were focused on saving nearby buildings. 60 tons of coal in the basement “helped prolong the fire.”
The building was a total loss and was valued at $25,000. The contents were valued at $6,000. Lawrence Hall was insured for $15,000.
Fire aftermath, 1905
Funding for a New Lawrence Hall
The St. Cloud community quickly acted to help the women displaced by the fire. Nearby St. Cloud residents took in all of the women and $1,500 was raised to assist. The state acted as well. In March 1905, the state legislature appropriated $50,000 to construct a new residence hall. State architect Charles Johnston completed the plans for the “new” Lawrence Hall in early May 1905 (his first St. Cloud State campus building) and O’Neill and Son of Faribault, Minnesota, were named as general contractor on May 27, 1905. Work started two days later to remove the remains of the gutted dormitory and begin new construction.
New Lawrence Hall Opens
According to the St. Cloud Daily Times edition dated December 20, 1905, women began to move into the new Lawrence Hall that day, less than a year after the first Lawrence Hall was destroyed by fire. The building was dedicated on June 12, 1906, in conjunction with spring commencement activities featuring Minnesota governor J.A. Johnson.
Lawrence Hall room, 1903
Fire aftermath, 1905
Fire aftermath, 1905
Additional sources:
- Minnesota State Normal Board minutes, February 25, 1899
- Chapter 168 and 169, 1883 Minnesota state legislature
- Lydia Cecelia Olander oral history from 1978 described her escape from the burning Lawrence Hall (starts at 21 minutes, 15 seconds)