South Hall

History

The oldest structure on campus, and the only surviving building of the original university nucleus, South Hall was the original home of the College of Agriculture. It once had a near twin, North Hall, situated where the Bancroft Library stands today. The brick structure, designed by Scottish architect David Farquharson, is a rare and distinguished example of the Second Empire style. Over the course of its long history, South Hall has hosted the first physics lab in America (1879), the business school, a temporary museum for the state geological survey, and the persistent myth that the rooftop scene in "Mary Poppins" was filmed there. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.