page_title: University of Alabama Quad
section_title: Old Quad
hierarchical_section_title: University of Alabama Quad / Old Quad
caption_attribution_description: English: Clark Hall at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
context_page_description: The Quad is an approximately 22-acre quadrangle on the campus of the University of Alabama located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Home to most of the university's original buildings, this portion of the campus remains the geographic and historic center of the modern campus. Originally designed by noted English-born architect William Nichols, construction of the university campus began in 1828, following the move of the Alabama state capital from Cahaba to Tuscaloosa in 1826. The overall design for this early version of the campus was patterned after Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia, with its Lawn and Rotunda. Following the destruction of the campus during the American Civil War, a new Quad emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Different in form and function from the original design of the early 19th century, the modern Quad continues to fill its role as the heart of the campus. Although completely surrounded by academic and administrative buildings, only five structures are built directly on the Quad: the Little Round House, Tuomey Hall, Oliver-Barnard Hall, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, and Denny Chimes.
context_section_description: The Old Quad was rectangular and designed along a north–south axis.  By the time of the university's destruction in 1865, the quadrangle featured the Lyceum at the center of the northern side, the 70-foot (21 m) wide, 70-foot (21 m) high Rotunda at the very center of the quadrangle, and the President's Mansion at the center of the southern side.  A primary lane ran from the Lyceum in the north, circled the rotunda, and continued on to the President's Mansion in the south.  Lining this lane between the Lyceum and Rotunda were six dormitories, three on each side.  Another lane ran east to west in front of the Lyceum. To the west of the Lyceum were at least two faculty houses and the Gorgas House, then used as a dining hall.  To the east was a faculty house and, at some distance away from the Quad, the Alabama Corps of Cadets gunpowder magazine.
  The Lyceum was a two-story brick building with an Ionic portico, very similar in design to the Lyceum that Nichols built several years later at the University of Mississippi.  It housed laboratories and classrooms.  The Rotunda, completed in 1833, was a three-story brick structure surmounted by a dome and surrounded by a two-story colonnade of twenty-four Ionic columns.  An auditorium, used for ceremonies and church services, occupied its first two floors.  The third floor housed the university's 7,000-volume library and natural history collection.  Near the northwest side of the Rotunda stood a guardhouse, now known as the Little Round House.  It was the only structure on the Quad with a direct military purpose. Four of the dormitories were three-story brick buildings,  Washington and Franklin halls on the west side of the Quad and Jefferson and Madison halls on the east.  Two one-story frame buildings, Johnson and Lee halls, were built in 1863, one between Washington and Franklin and another between Jefferson and Madison.
  The Alabama Legislature converted the university over to the military system on February 23, 1860. This decision proved disastrous, as it turned the school into a military target during the Civil War.  During the war the university became known as the "West Point of the Confederacy," sending roughly 200 cadets into the field each year.  On April 3, 1865 Union Brigadier General John T. Croxton and 1500 cavalrymen approached Tuscaloosa with orders to destroy all targets of military value in the town.  On April 4 Croxton sent Colonel Thomas M. Johnston and two hundred men to burn the university.  In the midst of carrying out his orders, university faculty pleaded with Johnston to spare the Rotunda and its library.  Johnston sent a message via courier to Croxton, asking if he might spare the building.  Croxton replied "My orders leave me no discretion... My orders are to destroy all public buildings."  By the time that his men had completed their orders only seven university buildings remained: the Gorgas House, President's Mansion, Observatory (not on the Quad), the Little Round House, and a few faculty residences.
caption: Clark Hall, one of the first new buildings following the Civil  War. It was built on the ruins of the old Lyceum.
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