College Hall Fire, 1905

College Hall was the first building constructed on the Vanderbilt campus. The building held administrative offices, a chapel for religious services, the campus library, classrooms, faculty lodging, and student dormitory rooms. On April 20, 1905, fire erupted near the roof. The wooden interior of the building was soon engulfed in flames which swept up the roof into the two towers and down through the second and third floors. When the fire was extinguished, the walls of the two towers, part of the exterior walls, and an arched doorway at the top of the entrance steps were still standing, but the interior of the building and most of its contents were lost. As the third decade came to a close, Vanderbilt began to rebuild with assistance from alumni and the Nashville community.