Agriculture Building / Old Agriculture Building / Davenport Hall

            The Agriculture Building, later known as Old Agriculture Building, was dedicated May 21, 1901. [1]  The morning dedication session was held at 10am in Morrow Hall, while the afternoon session was held at 2PM in the University Chapel.  Designed by Joseph C. Llewellyn, a University grad of the class of 1877, [2] the 94,900 square foot [3] building cost $122,972.19 to construct. [4]  A 1917 addition designed by James White cost $6,000. [5]

            On June 27, 1946 the Board of Trustees approved a resolution from the Executive Committee of the College of Agriculture to rename the building Davenport Hall: [6]

as a memorial to the late Eugene Davenport, who was Dean of the College of Agriculture, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and Director of the Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics…Dean Davenport was a member of the University faculty from 1895 until he retired in 1922…he also served as Vice-President of the University from 1920 to 1922

The building was renamed in honor of Eugene Davenport on Thursday, April 17, 1947 in a ceremony renaming three buildings.  The Old Agriculture Building was renamed to Davenport Hall, while the Women's Building became Bevier Hall and the New Agriculture Building was renamed to Mumford Hall.  Davenport's lasting impact on education was recounted by his belief that "every properly educated man is trained both vocationally and liberally…the chief distinction of the educated man is after all his ability to view the world from a standpoint broader than his own surroundings" [7]

            The building features terra cotta adornments surrounding the building and two massive Ionic columns supporting its grand entrance.  Two quotes flank the grand entrance, one by proclaiming Industrial education prepares the way for a millennium of labor. - Turner, and the other The wealth of Illinois is in her soil and her strength lies in its intelligent development - Draper.

            By 1950, the building housed the Departments of Agronomy, Animal Nutrition, and Dairy Production, as well as the Regional Soybean Laboratory. [8] In the late 1950's, a $305,000 remodeling project was embarked upon for the building. [9]