01/24/2026
Happy SNOW day! ❄️🩵❄️
🐗❤️University of Arkansas
Old Main was constructed between 1873 and 1875 as part of a land grant for the state of Arkansas. At that time it was known as University Hall. It was designed by Chicago architect John Mills Van Osdel, and construction was carried out by William Mayes of the firm. In 1873, the University of Arkansas purchased Van Osdel's plans for the University Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (demolished in 1938) and erected an identical structure.
The contract to construct the Hall was signed by the superintendent of public instruction, Joseph Carter Corbin, who was the highest elected African American official in Arkansas during Reconstruction.
Most of the building materials used in Old Main came from local areas, because the nearest river port was 60 miles away and the nearest railroad was 150 miles away.
136 miles of lumber came by oxen-drawn wagons from the Peter Van Winkle Sawmill near historic War Eagle Mill in Benton County.
The red exterior bricks were made from clay dug on campus and fired in kilns built west of Old Main.[4] The brown sandstone used for the foundation and basement was also quarried from near the building site. The five-story building contained 2,600,000 bricks when originally constructed.
The north tower stands 130 feet tall and the south tower stands 123 feet tall.
The architectural style is Second Empire, with a Mansard roof forming the top story. The south tower has a concave silhouette, while the north tower has an ogee silhouette. On all four sides of the south tower are large round areas designed to be clock faces. These towers were reversed from the Illinois plan so that the "clock tower" could be closer to the city of Fayetteville for better viewing. No clocks were ever installed, however. (A clock was installed in the South Tower in recent years).
According to Fulbright College history of Old Main, “Although the two buildings were nearly identical, the towers were swapped, with the taller bell tower to the right side of the building and the smaller clock tower moved to the left. Although the reason for the switch is unknown, two myths for why this switch occurred have attained:
Moving the taller tower to the north would symbolize the Union’s victory in the Civil War, waged less than a decade earlier. The university was founded and organized during Reconstruction, so Unionists still held sway politically and may have been happy to take credit for the change.
The contractor got drunk and looked at the plans backwards. This seems less plausible given the Baptist background of the contractor.”
Old Main is a survivor. It withstood major fires in October 1905, August 1919, and October 1940. It was the first Fayetteville structure to be entered in the National Register of Historic Places in June 1970 and among the first in Arkansas to be so designated.
After nearly a hundred years of use, Old Main had really begun to show its age, and in 1981 the building was closed for safety reasons. After a considerable period of debate over whether to restore the old building or tear it down, restoration work began in the summer of 1989 and Old Main was renovated extensively. The renovation proceeded ahead of schedule, and it was finished during the spring semester of 1991 at a cost of $10 million. It was rededicated during the Fall of 1991.
The south tower was originally designed to have a clock, however, one was not installed until the 2005 renovation. Although there was no clock face, the building did have a bell in the opposite tower that rang every hour and half-hour and could be heard all over campus, as well as most of downtown Fayetteville and surrounding areas.
On October 27, 2005, after more than 130 years without a functioning clock face, a specially constructed clock was completed and dedicated on the South Tower.
BELL replaced: Electronic System: The original 1879 brass bell was replaced by electronic, computerized bells, which were installed in 1949 and have since been updated.
Musical Features: The system can produce the sound of over 300 bells and plays musical selections, including the Alma Mater at 5:00 p.m..
Original Bell: The original 1879 bell is now on public display in the Clock and Bell Room on the 4th floor of Old Main.
I am Arkansas alumni and had the privilege of taking many classes in Old Main. It seemed like it was constantly under renovation while attending classes.❤️
Photo taken February 2021 in subzero temperatures. ❄️🐗❤️
  
