Cushing Hall


Cushing Hall is a dormitory at Hampden–Sydney College in southside Virginia. Built in sections from 1822–1833, Cushing Hall is the oldest four story dormitory still in use in the United States. The building is listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property of Hampden–Sydney College Historic District. The structure is named after Jonathan P. Cushing, the fifth president of the college.

History

Cushing Hall was designed by William Phaup and Reuben Perry in the Federal style of architecture. The east wing and center section were completed by 1824, and the west section by 1833. Cushing Hall almost entirely replaced all the older buildings on the campus and was called "the College" until the early 20th century, when it was named Cushing Hall in honor of the College's fifth president, Jonathan P. Cushing.
After almost a decade after being founded at the University of Virginia, Pi Kappa Alpha was "re-founded" as part of the Hampden–Sydney Convention, held in a student room of Cushing Hall in the late 1870s. The four delegates to the Hampden–Sydney Convention are referred to as the Junior Founders. It was at this convention that the fraternity defined itself as belonging to "the South." At the New Orleans Convention in 1909, Pi Kappa Alpha officially decided to declare itself a national organization.
The exterior has been restored and the interior modernized. Porches were added in 1910, along with a slate roof, replacing the original cedar shakes. The front of the building was originally the back, which faced the 18th century campus.
Cushing Hall is the model for Venable Hall and the Randolph–Macon Building in Boydton, Virginia.

Functions

As with many 19th Century buildings in academia, Cushing Hall has been used for a myriad of functions throughout its lifetime. Since the 1820s, the building has been used as an auditorium, chapel, library, classrooms, and residence hall.