Property Record
624 PROSPECT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | South College |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 58039 |
| Location (Address): | 624 PROSPECT ST |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Beloit |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1858 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1981 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | LUCAS BRADLEY |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Near East Side Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/7/1983 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Multiple Resources of Beloit |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property under the name "Beloit College." 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. A two story cream brick chapel building, this is a simplified adaptation of a design submitted by Lucas Bradley of Racine, drawn originally for the Racine High School. (Sketches and floor plans for the chapel are now in the College Archives). The first floor housed the academy; the second story held the chapel, a large room with a cove ceiling. Apparently there was a hipped roof with a central pedimented dormer above the front facade. The facade itself features two story recessed blind arches on each side, which are themselves recessed within vertical rectangles. The massive entry has a rounded fanlight, and now fronts on a slate porch with side stairways and wrought iron handrails serving as the approach. In an exterior remodeling during 1940-41, the roof was changed from a hip to a pedimented gable roof, and a denticulated frieze beneath the eaves was probably added then. Also removed were double open interior staircases leading to the chapel proper on the second floor; they were replaed by a single enclosed staircase. The windows along the sides are double hung, and on the second floor they have rounded arches, while those on the first have flat arches. These window bays repeat the rectangular recessing found in front. The arches are brick while the window sills are of stone. A limestone foundation is visible beneath a stone water table. South College is built of cream brick, supplied by Birge and Graham of Whitewater at $6.25 per thousand, delivered. The building was constructed at the cost of $5,000.00, $3,000 of which was supplied by citizens of Beloit. The building was dedicated on Wednesday, April 20, 1959. After the academy was transferred to Scoville Hall when that was built in 1889, and the chapel moved to Eaton Chapel in 1892, the building was turned into the college art hall, which function it served until construction of the Theodore Lyman Art Hal in 1930. Since the early 1930s, the building has served a variety of purposes at various times: the Rockford Lounge through much of the 1930s; as administrative offices when the officers of the college had to vacate Middle College in 1938-1939 during remodelling; as student union in the 1940s and then later as campus bookstore. Most of these functions were housed on the first floor; the large second floor room largely unused. In the later 1950s, the first floor was remodelled for faculty offices, and faculty meetings were held in the large upper room, decorated with a portion of the portrait collection of the college. Later on the upper room was used as the language laboratory, and after that it became the offices of the field Term operation. Faculty offices were vacated in the 1960s and the Registrar's Office was put on the first floor along with the offices of the deans of students. The basement was also finished for offices. The present functions of Field Term and the Institute at beloit are housed on the second floor; the Registrar and the deans of students are housed on the first floor; and basement offices are still used for minor functionaries to do with student life and housing. Since its construction, the building has been in constant used, patronized by the student body as chapel and academy, then as Art Hall, then for the variety of functions and services noted above. It remains central to student life for the services of both the Deans of Students' and the Registrar's offices. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Historical Sites and Points of Interest in Rock County, Wisconsin, Rock County Tourism Council, 5/1994. (B) Beloit College Archives. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |