Fires

From Special Collections Research Center Wiki

There have been a number of fires on the grounds of the College of William and Mary throughout its history.

October 1705: College Building (Wren) and its library burned. One book from the library survived the fire and is part of the collection of the Special Collections Research Center.

November 1781: President's House burned while occupied by wounded French during the Revolutionary War.

February 1859: College Building (Wren) burned, library contents destroyed. A fragment from the bell survived the fire and is part of the University Archives Artifact Collection. An image of the fragment is available in the box list of the finding aid.

September 1862: College Building (Wren) burned by Union soldiers from the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry.

1925: The kitchen of the Dining Hall was damaged in a fire which destroyed the Penniman Building in the back of the dining hall. Governor Trinkle authorized the construction of a new dining hall after the fire.

1930: A fire on March 15 burned the roof, dormer story, and third floor of Chancellors Hall (now known as Tyler Hall), causing $70,142 worth of damage. Temporary roofing was set up on the west end of the hall until June so that classes could be held while construction continued on a permanent roof of the east side.

1948: A fire on the left side of the stadium at Cary Field burned for two hours and cracked the concrete under the stand. However, the damage to the stadium was not too serious.

1953: A fire on December 29, 1953 destroyed the auditorium of Phi Beta Kappa Hall (now known as Ewell Hall). John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $250,000 to the College of William and Mary in 1954 for the reconstruction of Phi Beta Kappa Hall.

1966: There was a fire in the attic and center cupola of Bryan Hall.

1972: Another fire in Chancellors Hall (now known as Tyler Hall), this time in the basement, caused $30,000 in damage.

1972: A fire in the project room of the Botetourt Theater in Swem Library.

1983: Jefferson Hall was destroyed by fire on January 20, 1983, but the outer walls remained standing. Reconstruction of the building was turned over to the Buildings and Grounds Department in October 1984.

2003: On April 3, 2003, a fire in a maintenance team’s office in the basement of Trinkle Hall resulted in smoke damage and caused the Campus Center to be shut down for most of the morning yesterday. The fire was mainly contained in that area, but also spread to the Print Shop at the back of the Campus Center.[1]

2005: An exhaust fan sparked a fire in Preston Hall on May 3, 2005. Some students began the next school year living at Colonial Williamsburg's Governor's Inn.[2]

2008: A fire in a kitchen wall of the Chi Omega house in Sorority Court on March, 3, 2008, caused minimal damage.[3]

References

• See folders for individual buildings, University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
• See folders for individual buildings, University Archives Photograph Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
• Flat Hat
• Colonial Echo
• Fire Threatens Campus Center, The Flat Hat 4 April 2003.

Need help?

To search for further material, see Finding Materials in the SCRC for an introduction to the SCRC Collections Database, card catalogs, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, etc.

Questions? Contact the SCRC at spcoll@wm.edu or 757-221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at the College of William and Mary (hours). Contact information for individual staff members is available.

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of the College of William and Mary were destroyed by fire, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information available here is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in the SCRC's collections and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the SCRC's access tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.