Bascom Hall - Bascom Hill Historic District - Madison, WI
N 43° 04.544 W 089° 24.238
16T E 304293 N 4772029
Bascom Hall was built in 1857, the third structure on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, WI.
Waymark Code: WM1AT5B
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 10/03/2024
Views: 3
What is now called Bascom Hall was the university's third major building, filling that prominent central spot which had been called "Main Edifice" on the early plan. The building was designed by Indianapolis architect William Tinsley in Italian Renaissance Revival style, and initially looked as shown in the 1885 drawing - quite different from today - smaller, with the center topped with a tall dome and a semi-circular colonnade facing the capitol. Tinsley's own biographer observed that it was "a handsome and dignified if somewhat pompous, edifice." It was built from 1857 to 1859, and was the first UW building used entirely for instruction. Like South Hall, the building of Bascom left the university financially stressed for years.
In early years Bascom Hall was called Main Hall, University Hall, and Old Main. In 1894 the original semi-circular portico was replaced with the current Jeffersonian portico and the dome was enlarged. Wings were added to expand the building in 1899, 1907 and 1926. The Lincoln sculpture was added in front in 1909, a copy of Adolph Weinman's statue in Hodgenville, Kentucky. In 1920 the building's name was changed to Bascom Hall to honor the former UW president.
In 1916 a fire destroyed Bascom's dome. The building had had problems from the start due to inadequate funding - leaks and drafts and poor ventilation. In the first years, students built small fires on the basement floor to keep warm, but it was the dome that caught fire in 1916. Engineering students tried to douse the fire, but the firehoses were rotten. The rest of the building was saved only when the burning dome collapsed into a forgotten water tank beneath.-
Bascom Hill