Property Record
1545 OBSERVATORY DR
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Hiram Smith Hall and Annex |
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| Other Name: | Hiram Smith Hall; Dairy Annex; Soil Science Annex; 0076 0077 |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 16835 |
| Location (Address): | 1545 OBSERVATORY DR |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
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| Year Built: | 1892 |
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| Additions: | 1935 1909 |
| Survey Date: | 1974 |
| Historic Use: | university or college building |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Ferry and Clas |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Hiram Smith Hall and Annex |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/14/1985 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. 1988- "Finished in in 1891 for $40,000 and named for former Regent and Wisconsin dairyman. Designed by Ferry and Clas of Milwaukee, it was built in three months to house the growing dairy school. The University opened the first dairy school in the United States in 1890, and the hall was the first building for the new school as well as the first dairy science building constructed in the western hemisphere. In Hiram Smith Hall and first U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) talking film was made, showing Professor Stephen Moulton Babcock demonstrating his butterfat test on the original equipment which was built in the dairy machine shop in the heating plant (Agricultural Bulletin Building). Both the bulletin and Soils Annex are connected to Hiram Smith Hall by underground stone tunnels built for easy access to equipment and basement cheese-curing rooms." |
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| Bibliographic References: | University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison Tour Guide: Henry Mall and West Campus, 1988. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |