Sherman Hall (Western Illinois University)
Encyclopedia
Sherman Hall is the main administrative building of Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...

 and site of the original Western Illinois State Normal School in Macomb, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Construction & Early History

Designed by Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Robert Watson, Sherman Hall is a three-story, mixed classical revival-style building. Construction on Sherman Hall began on December 21, 1900 at the cost of $
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

302,950.

Sherman Hall opened to the public in 1902 as the main building of Western Illinois State Normal School. Sherman Hall was the school's only building until Garwood Hall was built in 1914. At the turn of the 20th century, the hall contained classrooms, an auditorium, a gymnasium, a library, laboratories and administrative offices.

Renaming

The building was referred to as the "Main Building" until it was renamed in honor of Lawrence Sherman, an influential Macomb lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 of the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

, in 1956.

National Historic Place

Sherman Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1998 as "Western Illinois State Normal School Building." This listing also encompasses nearby Garwood Hall because it is linked to Sherman Hall by a passageway as well as the Western Illinois University Art Gallery because it was the original heating annex for Sherman Hall.

External links

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