Barracks, Virginia Military Institute

The Old Barracks is a historic building on the campus of the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. Built in 1848 and repeatedly enlarged and redesigned by a succession of architects, it includes at its core the oldest surviving building of the campus. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965 for its architecture and its association with nation's oldest state-supported military academy.[2]

Barracks, Virginia Military Institute
Barracks at Virginia Military Institute
LocationN edge of Lexington on U.S. 11, Lexington, Virginia
Coordinates37°47′27″N 79°26′08″W
Built1848
ArchitectAlexander Jackson Davis
Architectural styleGothic Revival
Part ofVirginia Military Institute Historic District (ID74002219)
NRHP reference No.66000956
VLR No.117-0007
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLDecember 21, 1965[2]
Designated NHLDCPMay 30, 1974
Designated VLRSeptember 9, 1969[3]

Description and history

The campus of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is located on the north side of the city of Lexington. At its center is a large parade ground, around which a significant number of the institute's buildings are arrayed. The Old Barracks are located along the northeastern edge of the ground, forming a long arcing facade. There are three sections, each of which presents a bank of windows, with a projecting central entry. The projecting sections have polygonal towers with crenellated tops at the corners, with similar lower towers at the eastern end of the structure and at the junctions between the sections. The tower at the western end of the structure is square with angled corners, and matches in height the entrance towers.[4][5]

VMI was founded in 1839, and is the first and best-known of the nation's state-funded military academies. Most of the institute's early buildings were demolished during the American Civil War, with only a portion of the barracks building surviving.[5] This portion was designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis and built in 1848, and was a fine piece of early Gothic Revival architecture that influenced the other buildings present on the campus. In the 1890s the building was redesigned by Isaac Eugene Alexander Rose, and in 1916 it was enlarged to design work by Benjamin Grosvenor Goodhue, which created the first complete quadrangle. In 1948 the building was further extended by the addition of a new wing, designed by Carneal and Johnson.[4]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Barracks, Virginia Military Institute". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  3. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. "NHL nomination for Virginia Military Institute". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
  5. "NHL nomination for Barracks, Virginia Military Institute". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
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