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Mars Hill Campus Listed as Historic District
by Brandon Johnson
Founders Hall - 1891
Marshbanks Hall - 1909
Montague Hall - 1919
McConnell Hall - 1924
Buildings Listed in the
MHC Historic District
1. Campus grounds
2. stella Nissen Montague Building
3. Founders Hall
4. Dr. W. F. Robinson Memorial Infirmary
5. Blackwell Hall
6. McConnell Gymnasium
7. Amphitheater
8. Moore Hall/Marshbanks Hall
9. Treat Dormitory/Spillman Hall
10. Former Mars Hill Baptist Church
(now Owen Theatre)
11. Pastorium (now Jarrett House)
12. Edna Corpening Moore and Stroup Halls
13. Huffman Hall
14. Carter-Humphrey Guest House
15. Carter-Humphrey Dependency
16. Buildings and grounds shed/shop
17. Psychology Lab
18. Mountain Heritage Cabin
19. Charles M. Wall Science Building
20. Memorial Library
(now Brenda G. Nash Education Hall)
21. Myers Hall
22. Melrose Hall (now Turner Hall)
23. Brown Hall
24. Edgewood House
25. Garage
26. Memorial for "Joe the Slave"
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It's hard to walk through the Mars Hill College campus and not feel some sense of history with all of the old and varied buildings. But few people realize that it is collectively one of the most historic campuses in North Carolina.
The Mars Hill College Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 2006. The designation features twenty of its original buildings --- the highest number of original historic structures of any college in the state. The Belmont Abbey College Historic District features fourteen contributing buildings, but, like buildings in the Black Mountain College Historic District, they don't represent conventional architectural trends.
The National Parks Service runs the National Register of Historic Places. Both of these departments fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. The goal of the National Register is to identify and preserve national places of heritage.
Davyd Foard Hood wrote the National Register nomination for Mars Hill College. Hood is a North Carolina consultant for nominations of historic structures to the National Register. He and Richard Dillingham, a specialist and consultant to Mars Hill College on regional issues, worked with others from and around the college to put together the proposal.
The Mars Hill district centers on the quadrangle, but includes the entire campus. The ground, the upper quad, and the lower quad (where Wall and Wren are located), men's hill, and women's hill are all included in the district.
What makes the Mars Hill district so historic is that all but four of its buildings built from its founding in 1856 through to 1955 still survive today. Aside from Belmont Abbey College, no other college or university has nearly the percentage of original buildings that Mars Hill has.
Several factors have lead to this survival rate. The college has had the good fortune to have had no devastating fires or other disasters similar to those that have claimed many other original and historic buildings from other campuses.
Another factor is the decision-making of President Robert Lee Moore and the trustees in the 1920s.
The 1920s and 1930s were times when many colleges replaced old buildings with new and impressive additions. Such a plan was proposed for Mars Hill in the mid 1920s. Architect Martin Parmalee drew up a comprehensive renovation plan in the Beaux-Arts style, but it was not accepted by college leaders. This decision allowed the college to keep much of its history by making use of the existing buildings.
Founders Hall is the oldest building on campus, being in use since 1892. It is one of the oldest academic buildings in Western North Carolina.
McConnell was once the school gymnasium. It held a basketball court and still has a pool, though it is covered over and no longer in use. This Classical Revival style gymnasium, built in 1923, is one of the few, if not the only, gymnasiums in North Carolina with this style.
The Estella Nissen Montague building and the Dr. W. F. Robinson Infirmary are examples of the rustic style of architecture that was popular in North Carolina in the pre-World War II era. The use of local stone from fields, hillsides, creeks, and rivers can also be seen in examples such as the Grove Park Inn, constructed in Asheville in 1913.
The Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps also built school buildings of similar rustic style during the Great Depression. The old Mars Hill High School on Bailey St. is an example.
Marshbanks Hall is one of the most distinctive buildings on the campus. According to Hood, the open belfry on top houses a bell believed to have been moved there in 1910 when the college's antebellum main building was torn down. The belfry is a prominent feature of the college seal. Architect Parmalee designed the building in 1908, and it was completed a year later.
The historic feel of the college owes a lot to its students. They have not only helped construct parts of the school, but student action saved two major buildings from demolition. In the 1970s, the administration and trustees were considering tearing down Founders and Montague to build a new building. Mars Hill history students started a petition to save the buildings. They gathered more than 3,000 signatures and saved these two buildings.
Phyllis Stiles, former director of corporate and foundation relations at Mars Hill College, was instrumental in obtaining the historic designation for the college. Stiles says that being on the register is prestigious and protects the buildings, while at the same time making the college eligible for low interest rates on loans to improve them.
Dillingham notes that "Mars Hill College has always been a poor school, and we needed to use our buildings, not tear them down. But it turns out that these buildings have defined who we are."
Reader Comment:
Richard Dillingham, consultant on regional issues, 5/15/2007, 11:23 a.m.
The recent Hilltop article by Brandon Johnson was a very good feature. Thank you for the only Mars Hill coverage of this historic listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Good job Brandon!
Kathy Wright, 2/18/2008, 2:27 p.m.
Where's the map??? You have the numbers 1-26 listed with building names- I would like to go see them but am not sure what is where!! Otherwise great info. Thanks
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