Location:
T171 .G42 G49x 1888-1899

Title:
View of buildings from the east; Knowles Dormitory in the foreground

Date:
1898?

Content:
View of campus buildings from the East with Knowles Dormitory in the foreground.

History:
From the Warren Drury Thesis: When Tech first opened, students found lodging and board in the surrounding area because no dormitory or dining hall was available on campus. One of Hall's actions was to erect at a cost of $4000 two frame buildings to house students. Students called these buildings the "shacks." Representative Clarence Knowles of Fulton County was a tireless supporter of Hall's plan to build a dormitory, arguing that dormitories would make the school accessible to the poorer students of Georgia. Knowles even took his fellow legislators to the school to see for themselves the need for a dormitory. In 1897, the legislature provided funds to build the dormitory. Bruce and Morgan, architects of the two previous buildings on campus, won the architectural commission for the dormitory in 1897. The dormitory, which opened in September 1897, was named for Clarence Knowles. Like "The Shacks", Knowles Dormitory had neither electricity nor steam heat. It did have 36 rooms housing two students each, a gymnasium, shower facilities and a dining room. In January 1897, 175 students were enrolled. Within a year of the dormitory's opening, enrollment had jumped to 267, requiring that three students share a room instead of two.