GT ID Number:
gtanno189192-38

Location:
T171 .G42 G49x 1888-1899

Title:
Floor Plans of the Shops of the Georgia School of Technology

Date:
1892

Content:
Drawing of the floor plans for the Shop Building, showing wood working department and the iron working department in the first Shop Building, on page [38] of the Annual Catalogue of the Georgia School of Technology, Announcement for 1891-'92.

History:
The drawing of the floor plans of the Shop Building did not change substantially from Crawford's initial drawing in the 1888-'89 Announcement, except that advances in printing and typesetting are evident. The Shop Building, built in 1888, was one of the two original buildings when the Georgia School of Technology opened its doors in 1888. The architectural firm was Bruce and Morgan. The contractor was the firm of Petit and DeHaven. The building was completed in 1888 for a cost of $20,000. The Shop Building was modeled after the Worcester Free Institute, a technical school in Massachusetts. Mr. H.B. Higgins, on loan from Worcester, served as consultant for the design and equipment in the Shop Building and served as its first superintendent. The Shop Building was designed to be a working building from the start, where, in the words of H.B. Higgins, "real difficulties are overcome and where real successes are achieved." The Shop Building paid its own way from the beginning, when the bid award for a heating system for the Academic Building was awarded to the school shop. President Hopkins stated that the Shop Building was to be outfitted with "machines which are made with glass, reserving to be made in the machine shop those constructed of iron, steel, or brass, for we can make them as well as the manufacturers." The 1891-92 Announcement describes the Shop Building: "The workshop is also of brick, two hundred and fifty feet long by eighty wide, and two stories high. It is beautifully designed with reference to its use, and affords ample space for the various departments of instruction pursued in it. It contains boiler and engine rooms, wood shop, machine shop, forge room and foundry." The Announcement further notes that "The workshops have been equipped with machinery and tools from the best makers and of the latest patterns at a cost of over twenty thousand dollars. In pursuance of the fundamental idea of giving the student access to the best machinery and experimental knowledge of the best methods of mechanical work, the commission have put the mechanical department on a footing with the most approved and complete shops in the country." The Announcment further states that "the shops of the Institution have already won an enviable reputation for the quality of their iron and brass castings, perfection in gear cutting and the beauty and variety of their wood and other work." This drawing, prepared by G.G. Crawford of the 1890 class, shows the wood working department and the iron working department.The Shop Building was destroyed by fire on April 21, 1892 and rebuilt according to the old plan even to the reuse of the old brick walls, by contractor F.P. Heifner for 11,886.