Randolph Residences

From Special Collections Research Center Wiki

The Randolph Residences, also known as the Randolph Complex, are located on Ukrop Way (formerly Campus Drive) east of the Commons. All of the buildings in the complex are named for Virginia governors: Giles, Pleasants, Harrison, Page, Tazewell, Cabell, Nicholas, and Preston.

Construction of five of the buildings (four dormitories for housing 246 students and one building for activities) was completed in July 1980. In the same year, five sorority court houses underwent renovation and the women previously living in those houses occupied Giles and Pleasants for the first semester of the 1980-1981 academic year. The dedication ceremony for the Randolph Residences was held on October 11, 1980 at Tazewell House on Parents' Weekend.

Pleasants and Giles consist of small clusters of eleven double rooms and two single rooms grouped around two large living room areas joined by an open kitchen. Page and Harrison consist of forty single rooms on five separate floors, each floor sharing a bathroom, kitchen and living room. Cabell is a three-story apartment building with two bedrooms, kitchen, bath, and living/dining room in each apartment. Tazewell is a small activities building equipped with a TV, lounge, laundry, fireplace, and games.

Two new dorms, Nicholas and Preston, were built in 1988 to house 106 more students. Nicholas is a smaller version of Cabell, with three floors of apartment-style rooms, and Preston is located west of Giles Hall.

There was a fire in Preston Hall on May 3, 2005.

Material in the Special Collections Research Center

• Colonial Echo, 1980, p. 26, p.63.
• Preston Hall Fire Photographs, University Archives Photograph Collection, Swem Library, The College of William and Mary.

References

• University Archives Buildings File (2007), Randolph Residences, Earl Gregg Swem Library, The College of William and Mary.

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.