herr2ck: I Can't Believe It's Not Mack!

Photos from November 2024.

For the longest time I thought Canfield Hall was part of Mack Hall, since they were built in the same Collegiate Gothic style and are right next to each other. However, it’s actually its own distinct building, although the two are connected and blend together.

Canfield Hall is located on the far south side of campus. It stands next to Morrison Tower and Fechko House to the east, Mack Hall to the west, Bradley Hall to the north, and 11th Avenue to the south.

History

Canfield Hall c. 1952. (Official Ohio State Facebook account)

Canfield Hall was designed by university architect Howard Dwight Smith as part of a project that included the first building of Kennedy Commons/Women’s Dining Hall and an expansion to Mack Hall. Excavation and construction on its tunnel began in September 1938, while the construction of the building itself began in March 1939 by E. Elford & Son. It was finished on May 1, 1940, and was first occupied in September 1940. The cost for the original building was about $350,000. Even though it was completed in a different style, Canfield has the archetypical structure of reinforced concrete with a brick facade.

Canfield Hall’s footprint when it was built.

Entrance to Canfield Hall, 1940s. (Buckeye Stroll)

An addition was built onto Canfield alongside the construction of Bradley Hall and was designed in the same Mid-Century Modern style. Though the work was complete in September 1954, beds had not arrived, so students had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. Ouch! Counting the addition, net assignable square footage comes down to 38,538.

Canfield Hall’s footprint after its addition.

Canfield Hall, unlike the other women’s dorms of the era, was named for an entire family. Its members include James Canfield, Flavia Canfield, and Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

Portrait of James H. Canfield, 1897 (Buckeye Stroll)

James Canfield (1847-1909) was the president of The Ohio State University from 1895-1899. While his tenure was brief, he had a few significant works at Ohio State. These include construction of the Armory and McCracken Power Plant, additions of Domestic Science, Commerce, and Administration courses, and beginning a laboratory on Lake Erie which was the precursor of Stone Laboratory. After his resignation, he served as a librarian at Columbia University until his death in 1909.

Left - Flavia Canfield c. 1896; Right - Dorothy Canfield Fisher c. 1930. (Buckeye Stroll)

Flavia Canfield, James Canfield’s wife, was the founder of the University Women’s Club. This club still exists today and provides members scholarship opportunities in exchange for service and philanthropy work. They operate the Buckeye Bargains Thrift Store on 11th Avenue. Dorothy Canfield Fisher was a bestselling author and education activist.

I found some odd history that dates from after the building’s construction--Canfield Hall was the home of 1952 Homecoming Queen Ellie Boley. This earned it the nickname “Cinderellie’s Palace”. While searching for old photos, I discovered a Facebook post that Ohio State made ten years ago. Ms. Boley (now Wildermuth) commented on the post with her story:

“What a blast from the past! A wonderful group of gals worked overtime on my campaign. Our skit of ‘Cinderellie’ was composed of a pumpkin coach, guardsmen, and 3 singing mice. Posters were silkscreened and distributed, and the skit went from house to house and dorms. [A] guy with a convertible was found for the ride around the [O]val. Gals lent me clothes for all the events. It was truly a case of sharing, not just clothing, but time. I still think of these gals and wonder where they are now.”

She also included two photos of this skit:

(Ellie Boley Wildermuth on Facebook)

Additionally, Canfield Hall is supposedly haunted--a student in 1998 claimed that she heard scratching noises coming from a pipe above her bed, loud footsteps were heard late at night in her room, and her roommate’s Bible was stolen. Her visiting friend ran out of the room screaming that “it was evil,” and another student said she saw a ghost in the bathroom. If you ask me, anything “paranormal” is usually a crock of BS, but I thought it was funny enough to mention.

Photos

On the 11th Avenue side of Canfield, you can see how indistinguishable it and Mack Hall are--only the projecting wing is part of Canfield Hall:

The brickwork is just beautiful. The lighting wasn’t cooperating with me that day, otherwise the details would be more visible.

The gist of the building’s south elevation:

From the top of the parking garage nearby:

I like this picture, but the bland Mid-Century Modern addition clashes a bit with the original Collegiate Gothic building. The proportions are the same, but the shade of brick and fenestration is different.

The north side, viewed from the courtyard created by the other nearby dorms:

For whatever reason, the top floor has a bunch of different brickwork patterns:

The rightmost one is especially crazy. Here’s the west facade of Canfield Hall:

The main entrance:

You can see additional decorative brickwork near the top in the above image as well. I love that Gothic font.

Heading inside, I was absolutely blown away by the quality of the interior. It looks to be pretty much original, and it has the most beautiful woodwork and wainscoting I’ve seen of any campus building thus far:

Look at this partition by the stairway!

It looks a little beaten up, but it’s mostly intact. Even the interior columns are decorated in a similar manner:

These ceramic tiles adorn many surfaces inside, which remind me of Detroit’s famous Pewabic tiles. I wonder if they are one and the same…

Historic photos of Canfield Hall that hang on the lobby walls:

The dorm area of the building was fun to explore too and was more pleasant than its neighbor. Canfield is small and pretty quick to traverse, and it actually smelled clean and fresh inside. I like the way the hallways look with the original wood doors:

Another thing that struck me is the amount of open dorm room doors. My parents told me all the time when I was going to college to keep my door open, so I would make friends with the people who lived nearby. However, they grew up in a generation where a big part of the college experience was playing cards and board games with your dorm-mates. Unfortunately, everyone in mine is attached to their f@#$ing cell phones, and they can’t be bothered to connect with the people around them. I kept my door open for the first week of both years I lived in the dorm, but nobody bothered to stop by. As a zoomer who is trying to kick his phone addiction (it’s an addiction! I don’t think people realize how bad doomscrolling is for you), I wish we could go back to that era, in a sense.

Anyways, I’ve never seen a hanging radiator before: