Columbia Hall - Stephens College, South Campus - Columbia, Missouri - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

"Columbia (West) Hall; 1920-1937. This three and one-half to four story tall brick dormitory was built in 1919, and expanded northward in 1937; it is the largest building in the district. The ground slopes toward Broadway, and the building is three and one-half stories tall on its south end and four stories on its north end. It is on the far west edge of the campus, directly across from Wood Hall, and the facade faces east to the quadrangle. Columbia Hall closely matches Wood Hall in styling and materials. The original portion of the building has symmetrical fenestration and a hipped roof. Like Wood Hall, the wide end bays of the original building extend out from the plane of the wall, and have brick quoins at the corners. The central entranceway also extends out a few feet; it is topped by a semicircular pediment, and the entranceway and windows above it are all surrounded by Classically inspired ornamentation of wood and limestone. The roofline features paired windows that rise above the eaveline and are topped with small triangular pediments. A wide cornice runs along the upper part of all four walls and there are also narrow string courses of brick and limestone lower on the walls. The multi-light wood windows are all early or original.

The early addition to Columbia Hall differs from the one on Wood Hall in that it largely repeats the Georgian Revival styling of the original section. The 1937 addition Is very similar to the original building; it continues the same roofline, cornice and string courses, and has matching brick and windows. The patterns of fenestration and massing are also almost identical. The entrance on the newer section is similar to the older one except that it is topped with a broken pediment and a bracketed cornice. A limestone panel above that doorway reads "Columbia Hall." There is a large square tower on the very north end of the building that has the same type of Jacobethan Revival ornament found on the addition to Wood Hall, as well as on Hickman Hall, which was in place by the time the addition was made to Columbia Hall.

Columbia Hall is highly intact, although in just fair condition; it has been vacant, or nearly so, for many years. The original wide cornice on both section of the building was replaced with a flat metal or wooden band at some point, apparently due to deterioration, and the smaller cornice and windows are in poor condition as well. A small low brick addition on the southwest corner is the only exterior change of note since the building was enlarged in 1936." ~  Historic District National Register Nomination Form

Columbia Hall is currently undergoing renovation to be once again to be used for student housing.