page_title: Morrill Hall (University of Vermont)
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Morrill Hall (University of Vermont) / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Corner stone on the southwestern corner of Morrill Hall at the University of Vermont campus (with Davis Center in the background), Burlington, VT: July 2015
context_page_description: Morrill Hall is a campus building of the University of Vermont, which is located on the southeast corner of the "University Green" in Burlington, Vermont. The building was named after U.S. Senator, Justin Smith Morrill who authored the Morrill Land-Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890, which created the American Land-Grant universities and colleges. Senator Morrill also served as a trustee of the university from 1865 until 1898. The building was constructed during 1906-07 to serve as the home of the UVM Agriculture Department and the Agricultural Experiment Station. It was added to National Register of Historic Places as part of University Green Historic District on April 14, 1975. As of 2015, the building continues to house the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the UVM Agricultural Extension Service.
context_section_description: To make way for the construction of Morrill Hall during 1906, the barn and a line fence on the property were demolished, while the original "Johnson House" was moved to 590 Main Street (i.e. the current location of the Dudley H. Davis Student Center).  In 2005, the Johnson House was again moved to the opposite side of the street, on the southwestern corner of University Heights and Main Street.
  The corner stone of the Morrill Hall was laid on June 26, 1906 as part of that year's commencement exercises.  A copper box was placed inside the corner stone containing a number of historical documents causal to the building's construction (e.g. the Morrill Bills of 1862 and 1890, the Hatch Act of 1887, the Adams Act of 1906, State legislation addressing the State Agriculture College and Experiment Station, the 18th report of the Vermont Experiment station, et al.) by Gov. Charles J. Bell.
  The Champlain Manufacturing Company of Burlington, VT served as the construction contractor, with oversight by a member of the UVM Board of Trustees, G.S. Fassett.  Senator Morrill's son contributed an additional $1,000 for the two granite pillars at the building's facade.  The contractor was said to have lost about $10,000 on the project and the University spent untold thousands more to equip the building.  During this time, the first floor facilities included; the offices of the Dean and Director, Professor of Horticulture, Stenographer, office and laboratory of the dairy husbandman, a library, classrooms, and the agricultural chemistry and horticultural laboratories.  The upper floor facilities included; class and lecture rooms, the chemistry laboratories of the Experiment Station, and the Soil Physics laboratory.  The basement operated as a dairy facility (including a creamery), served as storage for farm machinery, and housed a mail room, and the power and heating plant.
  The majority of the original interior partitions were made of painted brick, where some of the other partitions were made of brown ash.  The ceilings were constructed entirely out of steel.  The building was equipped with an elaborate ventilation system for its time, and was heated using steam.
  In 1911, three 60' x 20' green houses and a steam-powered head house (costing $7,000) were built in back of Morrill Hall, which provided for teaching and experimentation in horticulture and plant physiology, and replaced the outmoded 1891 greenhouse facility formerly located on the university's farm.
caption: Corner stone of Morrill Hall, University of Vermont
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