Barrows Hall

Date

1956-present

Location

145 Woodland Avenue

Architects/Collaborators

Potter, Tyler, Martin & Roth, Cincinnati (architects)
Jennings & Churella, New London, OH (contractors)
Chandler Codlipp Associates, New York City (decorators)

Style

Contemporary

History

Barrows Hall, named in honor of Oberlin's fifth president, John Henry Barrows, was opened in spring of 1956 and provides dormitory accommodations for approximately 130 incoming First Years. Previously on this site stood the Botany Department gardens and, by 1948, Botany Lane, a trailer park constructed to house the influx of students, many married, after World War II. The current three-story steel construction with brick cladding structure was designed to match the red brick in Noah Hall. Part of Barrows Hall was demolished in 1999 to make way for the new Science Center.

Sources

Oberlin College Archives, Office of the Secretary Records.

Ohio HIstoric Inventory for Barrows Hall by Laurie Stein, Ohio State Historic Preservation Office, December 2, 2005, accessed from the Oberlin Heritage Center website, May 26, 2015.