The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Miller Hall

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Institution Name: Roanoke College
Original/Historic Place Name: West Hall
Location on Campus: Front Quad
Date(s) of Construction and Designer(s):

1857	original construction Unknown
1932	renovation Unknown
1946	expansion Unknown

Type of Place: Individual building
Style(s): (Glossary)
Materials:

Foundation: brick

Walls: brick

Roof: slate; composition

Function:

ca. 1857	other (seminary)
ca. 1857	academic department building (engineering)
ca. 1857-1930	student union (student Ciceronian Society)
ca. 1857-present (2007)	other (offices)
ca. 1857-present (2007)	classrooms

Significance: education
Landmark designation:

National Register

Main Campus Complex, Roanoke College (1973)

Narrative: see below
References: see below

Narrative:
Named for Michael Miller of Roanoke County, who donated the $1,000 needed for construction, this Hall is the second oldest building on campus. It was erected in 1857 and renovated in 1932, then enlarged to its present form in 1946. Mr. Miller was a member of the original founders of the Virginia Collegiate Institute and was instrumental in helping locate the Salem site of Roanoke College when the Institute was moved from near Staunton in 1847.

Miller Hall was long home to the Physics and Mathematics programs. It was the first electrified campus building (1892) and the first with plumbing as well (1907). For twenty-five years, it served as the campus Civil Defense Center, complete with air raid siren during the Cold War. With the opening of the new Science Complex in 1970, the building was renovated again as classroom and office space.

References:

I. Bibliographic sources:

Eisenberg, William E. The First Hundred Years, Roanoke College, 1842-1942. Salem, VA: Trustees of Roanoke College, 1942.

Miller, Mark F. Dear Old Roanoke, A Sesquicentennial Portrait, 1842-1992. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1992.

Traditions: Roanoke College Yesterday and Today. Salem, VA: Roanoke College, 1981.

Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Main Campus Complex, Roanoke College. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/ Park Service, 1973.

II. Location of other data:

University: Library, Special Collections, Unknown
—details: Archives, Roanoke College.

SHPO

Government Offices