Campus
Dickinson's campus is three blocks from the main square in the historic small town of Carlisle, the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Army War College. The campus is characterized by limestone-clad buildings and has numerous trees.
The frontier grammar school was founded in 1773 and housed in a small, two-room brick building on Liberty Avenue, near Bedford and Pomfret streets. When Dickinson College was founded in 1783, this building was expanded to accommodate all the functions. In 1799 the Penn family sold 7 acres (2.8 ha) on the western edge of Carlisle to the nascent college, which became its campus. On June 20 of that year, the cornerstone was laid by founding trustee John Montgomery for a building on the new land. The twelve-room building burned to the ground on February 3, 1803, five weeks after opening its doors. The college operations were temporarily returned to their previous accommodations.
Within weeks of the fire, a national fundraising campaign was launched, enticing donations from President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall, and others. Benjamin Latrobe, soon-to-be named as Architect of the Capitol, designed the building now known as "West College" or "Old West." It was finished in 1822, having burned down in 1803 (as noted on its sign). Old West is today the ceremonial heart of the college, as all students march through the open doors during convocation and march out the same doors at graduation. However, Old West no longer hosts classes, instead hosting administrative offices, study rooms, and student accessibility services.
Other buildings in the Dickinson College campus include East College, the humanities hall, located next to Old West. Originally constructed in 1836 as a dormitory, president's lodging, and classroom space, the building collapsed during renovations in 1969 and was subsequently rebuilt with the original limestone. Behind the East and West Colleges is the Stern Center, originally named Tome Hall, the college's first laboratory and science building. Stern was built in 1887. The same academic quad also hosts Bosler Hall, a library structure built in 1884 and remodeled several times. Across N. West street from the main academic quad is Denny Hall, a red-brick structure originally built in 1899 and also rebuilt after a fire in 1901. Denny Hall is famous for its large, stained-glass windowed lecture halls. Its largest room, which hosts the college's Philosophical Society, holds a letter from James Madison commending the society's foundation.
