The Abigail Adams House was built in 1920 as the first dormitory intended to house female students at UMass Amherst, (then the Massachusetts Agricultural College).

When UMass began in 1863 as a land-grant agricultural college, women were not…

The story of the Aggie Inn is not one that is easily uncovered. An undated photograph that carries the caption, “Aggie Inn and Post Office,” shows a barn-like building and an old clear-globed gas pump. A jalopy which dates the photo between the…

What is now Haigis Mall was merely an open field at the University’s inception. Later, it became the Alumni Athletic Field, and finally Haigis Mall. Located to the East of Lincoln Avenue, and South of Ellis Drive, neither of which run through the…

The University of Massachusetts was founded as a Morrill Land Grant school in 1863. The school was originally called the Massachusetts Agricultural College, then the Massachusetts State College in 1931, and finally became the University of…

Preservation of UMass buildings has been granted a place of importance lately within the campus community. The reaction to the demolition of the trolley station illustrates this renewed interest in the preservation of campus landscapes. The trolley’s…

The Botanical Museum, constructed in 1867 for a total cost of $5,180, was one of the original four buildings built before the first class of students arrived in the fall of the same year. Erected behind the original Durfee Conservatory, the Botanical…

The Brooks Tobacco Barn, now rotting between parking lots 26 and 31 along Governors Drive, represents a once central mission in the experimental work of Massachusetts Agricultural College. It was built in 1924 to accommodate the MAC’s experimental…

The traditional class emblem, or memento, has often been either a pin or a ring. The class of 1882 wanted to do something different. After much debate, they decided to dedicate a fountain to the university in honor of their graduating class. The…

Constructed in 1903, Draper Hall has been in existence for over one hundred years. In its first years, Draper Hall was home to the university's only dining hall. Located at a far more convenient portion of campus in relation to the other dining halls…

The state of Massachusetts gave $6,500 for the construction of the Drill Hall that was built on the Massachusetts Agricultural College campus between 1882 and 1883. This large barn-like structure stood on the south hill of South College. Originally,…