A Walk Around Eastern Michigan

So my tour continued over to the main part of campus.  In April it will be 20 years since I graduated from Eastern Michigan.  It doesn't seem like it has been that long ago.  A couple months ago, I took a brief tour of the campus and I wanted to do a more extensive walk around campus because there's quite a few buildings that have been added since I went there.

Eastern Michigan was established in 1849 by the State of Michigan as the Michigan State Normal School and it was the first teacher's college west of the Alleghenies.  Classes started in 1853 and there were 122 students.  In 1899, it became Michigan State Normal College as the College expanded towards a more broad based education.  In 1956, it became Eastern Michigan College as it was covering more and more courses outside of teaching.  In 1959, it became a University as the College of Education split from the College of Arts and Sciences.  Currently there are approximately 20,000 students at EMU.

This is Boone Hall which was constructed in 1914 as an Administration and Classroom Building.  It then housed the Arts Department for a while and currently houses the Department of Continuing Education among others.

Pierce Hall was constructed in 1948 to house classrooms and the Adminstration Offices.  In 1988, the executive offices moved to Welch Hall and this building now houses Student Services, Registration and Student Accounting.  I remember spending some time in this building chasing down financial aid.

The Bell Tower was built with funds donated by the people of Ypsilanti and is a dedication to the students that died in World War II.

Pease Auditorium was constructed in 1914 and has been renovated a few times since then.  It is an example of Neoclassical Architecture.  I think it is a pretty nice looking building.

Looking up at one of the columns but don't ask me what type of column this would be.

A detail of one of the windows.

Another angle of the Bell Tower.  I kind of like the looks of this.

Looking up at the Bell Tower.

This is Roosevelt Hall which was constructed as a high school in 1925 to be used as a laboratory for student teachers at the college.  There was a tiny staircase that went through the center of the building but it was used by the seniors of the school only.  In 1969, it was closed as a high school and is now used the Military Science Department and a few others.

Looking up at the tower on Roosevelt.

Looking at the detail of the building.

This is Goddard Hall where I lived for three years.  It was built in 1955 as a women's dorm.  In 1964, the computer lab was added to the basement and from 1987 to 1990, I lived there.  I'm not sure if it's in use now.

Some of the details on the building.

The placard in front of the building.  Mary Goddard was a professor of Botany from 1900 to 1939.

This is Pray-Harrold, one of the main classroom buildings on campus.  When it opened in 1969, it was said to be one of the largest classroom buildings in the country.  It is used by many departments on campus and I spent a fair amount of time here when I was a student.  It was nice living in Goddard because it was right across the street from this building.

The main entrance.

This is the Quirk-Sponberg Theater and it was constructed in 1959.  It houses the dramatic arts department and theater.

A statue of Icarus in front of the building.

This was added after I was student at EMU.  It is part of a park that is behind the Rec-IM building.  It was completed in 1993, so just after I was student.  It actually looks pretty nice and relaxing.

This is the Pond House and during the warmer months, you can rent paddleboats or rowboats.  I kind of liked this shot with the bulding reflected in the water.

The Student Center which was added well after I graduated from EMU.  It was intented to be a replacement for McKenny Union.  I think this is the rear of the building but it looks much nicer than the front.

Some sort of sculpture.

The clock tower in front Halle Library.  Construction on Halle Library was completed in 1998.  It's actually a pretty nice looking building.

Looking up at the tower.

This is the Mark-Jefferson Science Building.  As it houses Chemistry, I only had a couple classes here.  It was constructed in 1969 and was extensively renovated in the past couple years.   This is a shot looking through one of the arches at Halle.  The building looks much nicer now than when I was a student here.

Sherzer Hall.  Construction on this was completed in 1903.  It was originally home to the Natural Science Department.  In 1957, it was renovated and housed the field services.  In 1989, there was a massive fire and it looked like they might have to tear it down but they were able to renovate it by 1992 after which it housed the Art Department.

A sculpture in front of Mark-Jefferson.  Don't ask me what it is supposed to be.

This is Briggs Hall.  It was constructed in 1937 as the field house and the EMU football field used to be near here.  In 1960, it housed the Math Department.  When I was first a student, it was the place where you went to register.  They still used punch cards and it was a painful experience.  I am glad that changed in my sophomore or junior year.

Another angle of Sherzer.

This is Starkweather Hall and was constructed in 1852 as the Student Christian Association Building.  It housed them and various other religious organizations until 1976.  At some point it housed the Graduate Offices and now houses the Honors Program.

Another angle of Starkweather.  It is the oldest building on campus.

Another view of Sherzer.

McKenny Hall.  It was constructed as the Student Union in 1931 and I believe it was the first (or one of the first) Union to be used by both male and female students.

A view of Welch Hall through the trees.  Welch is the second oldest building on campus.  When I first came to EMU, it looked like a burned out hulk but they managed to restored it and now it houses the Admistration.

One of the entrances to Welch.

A shot of the front from across the street.

Another angle of Welch Hall.

And this concludes my tour of Eastern Michigan.  It is by no means complete but it is a pretty good representation of the campus.  I think the campus looks alot better now than it did when I was student.