Instructor

Opened over 120 years ago, Mars Hill University recognizes Founders 
Hall as the oldest structure still standing on our campus today. 
Described as modest and unappealing by former campus visitors and 
historians, this century old building provides visitors few visible 
clues to its true meaning and importance in the history of the 
institution. During the 1890s, Mars Hill still consisted of only one a 
large two-story brick building located directly in front of where 
Founders Hall stands today. During this time, what has been labeled as 
an internal crisis amongst the institutions leaders arose and caused 
those associated with the school to worry about its future. &nbsp;These 
concerns resolved themselves through the election of Thomas McDowell 
Hufham as the institutions eleventh president in 1890. Founders Hall 
would become the only building erected during President Hufham’s brief 
tenure and remains today as a reminder of his impact on the campus.
The construction of Founders Hall would truly become a community 
effort. First referenced in the minutes from the May 19, 1891 trustees 
meetings in which they assigned J.S. Yeodes the task of designing the 
site, Founders Hall represents the first attempted expansion of Mars 
Hill since the end of the Civil War. School officials and community 
members set out themselves to complete the project, molding and firing 
the bricks used by hand and raising funds to purchases materials they 
themselves could not furnish. In December 1891, school leaders placed 
Lee B. Ramsey in charge of construction and building oversight. However,
 despite the first part of the building opened to use in 1892, 
construction to finish the project had ultimately stalled. In response 
to this, George G. Tillery was assigned the task of overseeing 
completion of the construction, which happened in the winter of 1893. 
Simply known as a classroom building or the Music Building following its
 construction, the building was renamed Founders Hall in 1978 and in 
1990, a large scale renovation was completed that left the brick walls 
as the only remaining original part of the building.

Mars Hill College at the time of President Moore's arrival in 1897. Founders Hall can be seen on the left across from the First Building.

The students and faculty of Mars Hill College assembled on the upper quad in 1902. Founders Hall can be seen in the back left of this photo.

Opened in 1892, Founders Hall is recognized as the oldest building still standing on the campus of Mars Hill University. Located on the university's upper quad, Founders Hall was the second building built on campus and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Founders Hall

Founded in 1856, Mars Hill University is the oldest surviving educational institution of higher education on its original site in western North Carolina. The original campus of Mars Hill consisted of four acres donated by Edward Carter, which lay in front of you. As the institution continued to grow and expand over the years, the Historic Quadrangle remained the heart of campus. During the spring of 1989, Professor of History Dr. Harley Jolley worked tirelessly with senior history majors to research the buildings located on the grounds. In 1995; following the recommendation of Dr. Jolley, Richard Dillingham, and state historic preservation officials; Mars Hill College President Dr. Fred Bentley’s support of the Historic Quads placement on North Carolina’s Study List for possible listing on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In the late 1990’s, President Dr. Max Lennon made the decision  to continue working towards recognizing campus for its historical significance. Architectural and landscape historian Davyd Foard Hood was hired to research the campus while Richard Dillingham would serve as a history consultant for the project. Through his research, Mr. Hood  recommended that the Mars Hill College Historic District include all sites fifty years or older. Thus, the institutional period for the Mars Hill College Historic District became 1856-1955. The proposed historic district would cover twenty-seven of the one hundred eighty-seven acres that make up Mars Hill’s campus and would consist of nineteen contributing sites.

Around this same time, Mars Hill College applied for funds from the Getty Trust in hopes of evolving a preservation plan for the historic buildings on the Historic Quad. The Getty Trust awarded Mars Hill College a total of $125,000 in anticipation that the campus would be designated a historic district. During the campus sesquicentennial celebration, President Dr. Dan Lunsford adopted the Mars Hill College Historic District project.Through the work of a variety of individuals both on and off campus, the Mars Hill College Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 2006. As of 2017, the Mars Hill College Historic District is amongst the largest educational historic districts in North Carolina.

The original land for the 1856 French Broad Baptist Institute was donated by Edward Carter who wanted his children to have a Baptist education— a view that was shared by many other local families, as well. The land Carter donated was part of his farm, and his ancestors still own the land surrounding the University. Mars Hill College served as a high school and preparatory school up until the early twentieth century when President Robert Lee Moore worked to turn it into a junior college in 1926.During its early years, students took classes in a singular building which was destroyed in 1910. In 1897, Founder’s Hall was built; it is a two-story brick building and is the oldest in the historic district. The early history of Mars Hill University also has a dark side that involved a slave named Joe Anderson. The institute began to decline financially within the first year of its existence, and as a result, a slave owned by trustee J.W. Anderson was used as collateral by the contractor, so that the first building could be built. This disconcerting part of Mars Hill’s history is often romanticized but it cannot be denied. In 1932, a memorial was built and in 1935 and an amphitheater was constructed to honor Joe Anderson.The Mars Hill Historic District is made up of nineteen buildings. Eleven of the major academic and residential buildings were planned or built during Dr. Moore’s tenure as president. During his presidency, which lasted from 1897 to 1938, Mars Hill College began to assume an identity within the community. Dr. Moore left a lasting legacy on the university because of his strategic planning of historic buildings even beyond the original four acre quadrangle. The appearance and character of the heart of the campus are forever indebted to this influential man. Hoyt Blackwell, the following president, brought progress to the college, and in 1962, it became a four year college. In 2013, under President Dan Lunsford, the institution officially changed from a college to a university.

Mars Hill University, located in the mountains of Madison, County, North Carolina, was initially founded in 1856 as French Broad Baptist Institute. In 1859, the institute was chartered by the state, and the name was changed to Mars Hill College after a verse found in the Bible: “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious” (Acts 17:22). In 2013 the name was changed to Mars Hill University to better reflect the institution's offerings at the undergraduate and graduate level. During the Civil War, and up until the nineteenth century, Mars Hill College struggled heavily due to the devastation and conflict the war had caused between local families who sympathized with the opposing sides. Stability did not ensue until 1857 when Dr. Robert L. Moore became president and used his leadership and integrity to attract students to the college. Through the years, Mars Hill has flourished into a four year liberal arts university. The Mars Hill University Historic District is comprised of approximately 27.07 acres of the 187.17 acre campus. This area comprises the historic buildings of what is the oldest surviving educational institution of higher education on its original site in western North Carolina. From 1856 until 1874, Mars Hill College’s campus consisted entirely of four acres, which extend before you, that are known as the Historic Quad. Today, the Historic Quad is better known as the Lunsford Commons, or Upper Quad, and remains the heart of campus. Mars Hill University is located at the center of the small town of Mars Hill, a town whose own development followed that of the educational institution. Incorporated in 1893, Mars Hill is located roughly eighteen miles north of Asheville, North Carolina and is the largest town in Madison County. In 2015, the downtown section of Mars Hill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. To the east of Mars Hill lies the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center. To the right of campus lie the Unaka Mountain Range with the peak of Bailey Mountain standing closest to campus. To the left of campus sits Little Mountain while the Great Smoky Mountains lie to the southwest of campus. These surrounding mountain ranges have provided Mars Hill students recreational adventure for decades while enhancing the physical beauty of campus. Thus, Mars Hill is known as “A Gem in the Emerald Ring of the Hills.”

Mars Hill University

The Founders Memorial was erected as part of Mars Hill College Sesquicentennial celebration in 2006-2007. Designed to honor the twenty-three known founding families of the institution, the memorial also recognizes the the twenty-two presidents who served the college in its first 150 years. The Founders Memorial sits near where the first building was located on the Historic Quad. It is said that the location of what would become Mars Hill University came about after those who agreed to help start the school were unable to decide on a specific location. After the Reverend William Keith refused to contribute to the future college until a location was chosen, fellow founder Edward Carter is said to have given the surrounding four acres to the college with Rev. Keith selecting the precise site for the first building. These four acres given by Carter are know as the Historic Quad.

Shortly after opening, the name of the institution changed from the French Broad Baptist Institute to Mars Hill  College. The new name was suggested by founding trustee Lewis Palmer who took the name from Acts 17:22 which read, “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill and said, ‘Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.’” Mars Hill College was officially recognized and chartered by the state of North Carolina in 1859.


Mars Hill University Founders Memorial

Arguably the most eye-catching and visually interesting building on 
the campus of Mars Hill, the Estella Nissen Montague Building is a 
one-story with mezzanine T-plan stone building that erected in three 
stages over the years. Originally designed as the institution’s 
fireproof library by C. Gilbert Humphries of Winston-Salem, North 
Carolina in 1917, and funded through a partial gift from Colonel Henry 
Montague in honor of his wife, Estella Nissen. When it came time for 
construction on the building to begin, the stone used was donated by 
college trustee Alfred Sprinkle and brought to campus from the nearby 
California Creek quarry while the four carved granite pieces were 
purchased from another unknown source. After two years of planning and 
construction, Montague opened to the public on May 1, 1919.
Upon its opening, Montague was an important improvement in the 
college’s facilities. However, the need for space soon outgrown the 
space available inside the building. In response to this need, 
administration approved the construction of a new mezzanine within the 
tall one-story building in 1924. This new addition only proved to be a 
temporary relief for the issue at hand so in the late 1920s, 
administration began to discuss the possibility of building a new 
addition onto the existing building to improve the library. It would 
ultimately take thirteen years for this third addition to be 
constructed. Designed by the original architect of the building, C. 
Gilbert Humphries, this new rectangular addition was placed on the east 
end of the original building. This latest addition was meant to be a 
two-stage project with a complementing wing to that would be built 
across the west end of the library, but never came to be. Re-opening to 
the public with more space in 1933, Montague would remain the campus 
library, even though it quickly became cramped and overcrowded once 
more, until 1955 when Memorial Library, now Brenda G. Nash Education 
Hall, opened. After the library left the building in 1955, Montague 
served campus by housing a variety of institutional offices until 1979 
when it became the home of the Rural Heritage Museum, which still exists
 today, displaying exhibits developed by university employees and local 
community members.

Located in the Montague Hall on the campus of Mars Hill University, the Rural Heritage Museum preserves and shares the history and culture of southern Appalachia. Exhibits include antique furnishings and farm implements, weaving looms, homespun cloth and crafts, as well as quintessential Appalachian artifacts such as a moonshine still. Recently renovated and reopened to the public, the museum currently offers an exhibit titled "Shelter on the Mountain: Barns and the Built Environment of the Southern Highlands". The museum is located in Montague Hall, a historic site in its own right. Montague was built in 1919 and housed the campus library.

Rural Heritage Museum located in the Estella Nissen Montague Building

Built sometime between 1918 and 1921, the former Jarrett House was 
originally designed as the parsonage for the Mars Hill Baptist Church, 
which at the time was located in what is now Owen Theatre. Located on 
land given to the church by I.B. Shive and his wife, it is not known 
whether the same architect Martin Egbert Parmalee, who designed Owen for
 the church, designed the parsonage. Reverend Jesse R. Owen was the 
first pastor to reside in the house and continued to do so until his 
resignation in 1931. Following Owen’s resignation, at least four more 
pastors of the Mars Hill Baptist Church lived in the building.
With a new church building in the works, Mars Hill Baptist agreed to 
sell the church building and the parsonage to Mars Hill College in 1953.
 The college repurposed the building as faculty housing and renamed it 
the Jarrett House in honor of R.F. Jarrett of Sylva, North Carolina, who
 donated funding in the 1940s for faculty apartment housing that would 
never be built. By the 1990s the Jarrett House was repurposed once more 
as the office for Mars Hill College campus security. Campus security 
remained in the building until 2004 when it was given to the theater 
arts department. In 2006 the Jarret House was one of several buildings 
designated as part of the Mars Hill College Historic District by the 
National Park Service and was listed on the National Register of 
Historic Places.&nbsp; The Jarrett House was demolished in 2013 to make room 
for Day Hall, which is built on the site of this historic structure.

Originally designed as the parsonage for the Mars Hill Baptist Church, which at the time was located in what is now Owen Theatre, the Jarrett House has been owned by Mars Hill University since 1953. Named in honor of  R.F. Jarrett of Sylva, North Carolina, the Jarrett House served a variety of purposes for campus before it was torn down to make room for campus imporvements.

The Jarrett House

Owen Theatre opened in April 1918, and has served various needs of 
both Mars Hill University, formerly Mars Hill College, and the community
 for nearly a century. Since its founding, the history of Mars Hill 
University and the local Baptist church were intertwined. School 
officials and faculty often served in leadership roles in the Pleasant 
Hill Baptist Church, which changed its name in 1860 to Mars Hill Baptist
 Church to symbolize its relationship with the school, which had 
received its charter from the state in 1859. From its inception until 
1887 Mars Hill Baptist Church held services in the college’s main 
building. In an effort to change this, local citizens Ashbel Ovidius and
 Florence J. Carter sold one and one-third-acre lot to church trustees 
with the understanding it would be the lot on which the new church is 
now being built at Mars Hill. Historic photos of the campus and 
surrounding community dated 1900 show a small, poorly constructed 
building on this site. By 1907, however, church officials deemed the 
building unsafe and the congregation abandoned it and held their 
services on campus until 1918.
Efforts to build the present day Owen Theatre began in the early 
1910s when church officials approved architectural plans for the 
building from Martin Egbert Parmalee on November 24, 1912. Church 
officials, however, were faced with the issue of funding to complete the
 project. Although the church had owned the plot of land the building 
would sit on since 1886, the struggle to find funding sources delayed 
completion of the building until 1918. Church historians credit the 
eventual success of the project to the arrival of Reverend Jesse R. Owen
 in 1914. Along with his role in the church, Rev. Owen also served as a 
faculty member and trustee of the College. Reenergized by the efforts of
 Rev. Owen, Mars Hill Baptist completed construction and on April 21, 
1918, Rev. Owen held the first service in the new church. Mars Hill 
Baptist occupied the building until 1954, when they moved to a newly 
constructed building located on the corner of present day Bailey and 
Main streets. In preparation for the move, church officials agreed to 
sell the old church and adjoining parsonage to the college on May 5, 
1953. Mars Hill College used the building as the campus chapel until 
1968. Once religious services ended, the building was renamed Owen 
Theatre in honor of former college trustee and Mars Hill Baptist Church 
Rev. Jesse Owen and repurposed as the home for the theatre arts 
department. Today, Owen continues to house the university’s theatre 
department as well as the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre during 
the summer months.

Originally built as the Mars Hill Baptist Church, Owen Theatre has been owned by Mars Hill University since 1953. Since 1968, Owen Theatre has housed the university's theatre arts department and the summer home of the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART). 

Owen Theatre

In 1905, Milo Clinton Treat agreed to donate $2,000 dollars to Mars 
Hill College for the construction of a boy’s club facility under the 
condition that the institution could raise a matching sum. Upon 
procuring the need funds and receiving Mr. Treat’s donation, Mars Hill 
began construction on the new two and a half story building on the site 
of what used to be Spivey Hall, a boarding house for boys operated by 
the Reverend Frank Clarke and his wife. Construction was soon finished 
and Treat Dormitory was dedicated on August 28, 1907 and would serve as a
 dormitory for male students until 1921.
In 1920, thanks in part to two large financial gifts from the Baptist
 home Mission Board and Dr. Bernard Washington Spilman, Mars Hill was 
able to nearly double the size of the existing Treat Dormitory as well 
as add a new college dining room, kitchen, bakery, and storage 
facilities. As part of the conditions of Dr. Spilman’s gift, the 
building was renamed Spilman Home for Girls upon its completion in 1921.
 The building was again renovated in 1941 according the to the plans 
produced by Henry Irven Gaines. This renovation included improvement to 
the mechanical systems and room accommodations in an effort to prepare 
the building to once again house male students. The 1941 renovation also
 included the glazing of the sun porch and the remodeling of the parlor.
 In 1948, the college dining facilities were relocated from Spilman Hall
 to the newly complete Coyte Bridges Dining Hall. Spilman Hall housed 
male students until 1983 and today it serves as home for a variety of 
campus offices including the Communications Department, summer programs,
 and The Theater Arts Department

Sitting on the upper end of Mars Hill University's "Historic Quad," Spilman Hall (formerly Treat Dormitory) is one of the oldest buildings still standing on campus. Over the year it has served a variety of purposes including residence hall, dining hall, kitchen facilities, and office space. Today, Spilman remains a vigorous part of campus and a welcome site for alumni who return to Mars Hill.

Spilman Hall

<div>Marshbanks Hall is located on the campus of Mars Hill University. The building was completed in 1909 by architect Martin Egbert Parmalee of Parmalee &amp; Sons, making it the oldest surviving building by an identified architect. During its early years, the building was known as the Library Building and housed&nbsp;administrative offices, classrooms, two Literary Society Halls, and a one room college library. In 1922, the building was dedicated as Moore Hall to honor Dr. Robert Lee Moore, president of Mars Hill College at the time. During its life, the building has housed the offices of three of the university's presidents:&nbsp;Dr. Moore, Dr. Blackwell, and Dr. Bentley.&nbsp; </div><div> In 1979, the building was renamed Marshbanks Hall to honor members of the Marshbanks-Anderson&nbsp;family, who were major donors to the college. The building&nbsp;has been used as space for a library, adminstration offices, and classrooms throughout its long life at Mars Hill University. Marshbanks Hall also houses the cupola or bell tower, a symbol appearing on the university's seal. It was said the bell could be heard in a three mile radius of campus, and it was historically used to signal the changing of classes. It is believed that only the most trustworthy students were given the task of ringing the bell.&nbsp;</div>

Formerly named Robert Lee Moore Hall, Marshbanks Hall is a part of the Mars Hill University campus. The building was completed in 1909 and known as the Library Building until being named after Robert Lee Moore in 1922. The building was renamed again in honor of the Marshbanks-Anderson family in 1979. The building is the oldest surviving structure with an identified architect, Martin Egbert Parmalee.

Marshbanks Hall

During the early 1900s, amphitheaters, or open-air theaters, became a
 common site on college campuses across the country. These structures 
would be used for plays, concerts, and other entertainment events 
provided by the college. Articles from the 1935 Mars Hill College 
student newspaper The Hilltop recounts the construction of Mars
 Hill’s amphitheater that same year. Supervised by Clayton I. Poor of 
Asheville and Bryson H. Tilson, superintendent of buildings and grounds 
at Mars Hill, the Mars Hill College amphitheater was constructed by 
students who were able to use the selected spots natural slope to 
provide excellent seating for the structure.
The amphitheater consists of two main parts, the stage and the 
seating. The design of the stage was a slightly evaluated rectangular 
platform, covered in grass and surrounded on three sides by a stone 
retaining wall. A shallow reflecting pool that encircles the front of 
the stage designed to enhance the aesthetics of the stage was built. The
 backside of the stage, which parallels present day Bailey Street, 
originally had hemlock and white pine trees planted behind it, which 
formed a dense background for the events taking place on stage. The 
original landscape designed for the amphitheater extended behind 
Marshbanks Hall and into the sunken garden found between Marshbanks and 
Spilman Halls. Today, remnants of the stone masonry designed survive in 
this garden.
The seats of the amphitheater comprise of sixteen concentric, arched,
 flat benches. In 1971, the original quadrangle entrance to the 
amphitheater underwent renovations to include a wisteria-covered wood 
trellis and a low wall that creates a visual enclosure across the rear 
of the amphitheater. Today, the amphitheater sits between McConnell 
Gymnasium and Marshbanks Hall and although the reflecting pool is dry 
and many of the original trees gone, much of the original structure 
still survives.

Located between historic McConnell Gymnasium and Marshbanks Hall, Mars Hill University's Anderson Amphitheater is perhaps one of the most visually pleasing and interesting structures on campus. Named in honor of William Kenneth (Class of 1915) and Johnnie James Anderson (Class of 1922), the Anderson Amphitheater as offered a place for students past and present to enjoy the natural beauty of Mars Hill.

Mars Hill University's Anderson Amphitheater

As Mars Hill continued to grow, so did an interest in athletics 
across campus. This new interest in athletics led to the need of a 
proper gymnasium for campus. Up until this time, the college had 
designated the north wing, a simple 24 by 36 foot facility, of the 
original campus auditorium to be used as a gymnasium. In an effort to 
improve the facility, the gymnasium was relocated to the old store 
building located on the Rivermont property, which had housed the campus 
dining room. In 1914, trustee W.C. McConnell of Asheville offered to 
give $500 dollars towards the construction of a new campus gymnasium to 
be included in the proposed Sams Dormitory or separately. Upon receiving
 Mr. McConnell's offer, college trustees appointed a three-person 
gymnasium committee to review the process further on May 7, 1914, which 
included McConnell and fellow trustees J.M. Stoner and R.S. Gibbs.&nbsp;
Following the conversion of the former Riddle hotel into a men's 
dormitory, the committee discussed the possibility of building a 
combined gymnasium/administration building but these plans were 
abandoned when Mr. McConnell upped his original pledge to the project 
from $500 dollars to $1,000 dollars in 1919 and urged construction to 
begin as soon as possible. Even with this new donation and urging from 
trustees, it would not be until August 1923 before architectural plans 
were produced by the firm of Smith &amp; Carrier of Asheville (These 
plans still survive in the collection of the Asheville Art Museum.) 
Construction on the building was completed in 1924, except for the 
swimming pool, which was not finished until 1932. On January 8, 1925, 
trustees approved a motion to name the new gymnasium in honor of Mr. 
McConnell who had fought for and funded the initial project.
Although heavily used over the years, much or the original interior 
of McConnell Gymnasium remains intact today. By 1952, the swimming pool 
located in the basement of the building had been covered up and 
converted into handball courts for faculty and students to use. 
Following the completion of Chamber Gymnasium, the bottom floor of 
McConnell was assigned to the college's education department that used 
the space for offices until 1996 when the department was moved into what
 is now Nash Education Hall. Following the education department's exit, 
the award winning Bailey Mountain Cloggers dance team has occupied the 
bottom floor. The main level of the building still contains the original
 basketball court and oval track, neither which are used. Today, 
McConnell Gymnasium continues to house the Bailey Mountain Cloggers, 
offices for the athletic department, and home to a variety of student 
recreational and leisure events.

McConnell Gymnasium located on the "Historic Quad" of Mars Hill University was open in 1924 to serve as the gymnasium for a growing Mars Hill College. Prior to McConnell, Mars Hill designated a wing of the old auditorium to serve as a gymnasium for students and faculty. McConnell Gymnasium was designed by famed architect Richard Sharp Smith who is best known for serving as the supervising architect of Biltmore Estate.

McConnell Gymnasium

Built on the site that once housed the Spilman Home for Girls and Treat 
Annex, Blackwell Hall honors the eighteenth president of Mars Hill 
College, Dr. Hoyt Blackwell (1890-1988). Upon his arrival to campus I 
1966, President Dr. Fred Bentley began to question the functionality and
 need for the under-utilized Treat Annex (Spilman Home for Girls had 
been demolished in 1935 to make room for the Dr. W. F. Robinson Memorial
 Infirmary). Described as opportunity meeting the college’s need for a 
new administration building, administration made the decision to 
construct a new building following a fire that claimed the Treat Annex 
in 1977. Located in the center of campus, school officials made the 
decision to name the building in honor of Dr. Blackwell who had served 
as college president from June 1938 to June 1966. Designed by Six 
Associates, an Asheville based architectural firm, construction on the 
new three-story structure began in the summer of 1977 and completed in 
1978. Today, Blackwell Hall still serves as the administration building 
for Mars Hill University and houses the president’s office as well as 
several other administrative departments and offices. A particular unique feature of Blackwell Hall is a three-story ceramic mural that depicts traditional Appalachian household and farming implements. Designed and created by Mars Hill College alumni Douglas Ferguson, visitors may see the mural if they enter from the main entrance on first floor. Mr. Ferguson, Mars Hill College class of 1933, went on to open Pigeon Forge pottery with his father-in-law after serving in the U.S. Army at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Ferguson would go on to become a celebrated ceramist, which is well deserved if one studies his Tree of Heritage. This piece includes pioneer artifacts from Ferguson’s mountain home inside the first floor foyer of Blackwell Hall and farm implements on the outside portion of the piece. The 1856 college building stands between the two sections of the piece. Inside the foyer of Blackwell Hall, one can find another work of art created by Mr. Ferguson for Mars Hill. On the walls is a ceramic mural of traditional Appalachian quilt patterns. This piece previously adorned the fountain located on the Historic Quad but was moved to Blackwell Hall upon the renovation of the fountain. Also inside the Blackwell Hall foyer is a model of the Mars Hill College circa 1910. Created by Douglas Mackenzie of Marshall, this model was a gift from the Class of 1956 in celebration of their 50th reunion and the school's sesquicentennial. We invite you to notice some of the sites in the model that are still on campus, including Founders Hall and the Moore Pin Oak.

Named in honor of the eighteenth president of Mars Hill College, Blackwell Hall houses the university's administration including President Dr. Dan Lunsford's office. Blackwell Hall was built on the site of the former Spilman Home for Girls and Treat Annex.

Blackwell Hall

The Dr. W. F. Robinson Memorial Infirmary was built to honor Dr. Willard Filmore Robinson, who lived from 1868 to 1933. Dr. Robinson was a trustee of Mars Hill College from 1898 to 1933 and served as the campus physician from 1929 to 1933. The building is located on the campus of Mars Hill University. After his passing, Dr. Robinson's wife Flora Harding Robinson donated $2,500 dollars for the construction of the memorial building. Mrs. Harding was the chair of the mathematics department at Mars Hill College. School historians claim that Mrs. Robinson's $2,500 donation was matched by the faculty of Mars Hill, providing the necessary funds for construction. The memorial building was designed by architect Henry Irven Gaines, who also designed several buildings across campus. The Edna Moore Stroup, Wall, Nash, and Myers buildings were all designed by Gaines, making him responsible for many campus structures. The memorial infirmary was completed in 1935, and the university still uses the building for medical functions today.

Located just off the southwestern corner of the original historic quad, the Dr. W. F. Robinson Memorial Infirmary is a rustic stone building that commemorates Dr. Willard Filmore Robinson and his contributions to Mars Hill University. Dr. Robinson was the campus physician from 1929 to 1933 and was also one of the college trustees, serving from 1898 to 1933. The building was funded in part by Mrs. Flora Harding Robinson, the wife of Dr. Robinson and the chair of Mars Hill College's mathematics department. The building was designed by Henry Irven Gaines, an architect responsible for designing several other buildings on campus.

Dr. W. F. Robinson Memorial Infirmary

In the summer of 1953, an anonymous philanthropist offered to donate Mars Hill College $250,000 towards a new, much-needed library on campus provided that the college raised money to erect another building of equal cost. The college agreed to these terms, and architect Henry Irven Gaines produced plans for the new library and for a new men’s residence hall. Library construction began in spring 1954 and was completed in 1955. Because the donor of the funds for the building insisted on anonymity, the library was dedicated as “Memorial Library.” 

The building was used as a library until 1996 when Coyte Bridges Dining Hall was renovated and expanded as Renfro Library. In 2000, the former Memorial Library was refitted and partitioned for faculty offices and classrooms by architect Wayne Douglas Roberts. In 2004, the building was renamed Brenda G. Nash Education Hall to honor the long term involvement and financial support of the school by Mrs. Nash and her husband, Tom Nash Jr.

Brenda G. Nash Education Hall (Formerly the Memorial Library)

The Charles M. Wall Science Building was built as part of Mars Hill University in 1940. The university, a private Christian college focusing on the liberal arts, was founded in 1856. It is the oldest higher learning institution in western North Carolina that remains on its original site. Mars Hill College was historically one of the premiere two-year private colleges in the United States. In 1962, the college was converted to four-year status after a period of growth and development. The college continued to expand both in enrollment and the variety of programs offered, leading the institution to change its name to Mars Hill University in 2013. The Wall Science Building was designed by Henry Irven Gaines, a partner of the Asheville architectural firm Six Associates. The building is named after Charles Moses Wall, a benefactor of many Baptist institutions including Mars Hill University. Wall was both a trustee and chairman of the building and grounds committee at Mars Hill.

The Wall Science Building is a part of Mars Hill University, a private liberal arts institution grounded in the Christian faith. The building was designed by Henry Irven Gaines in October 1939 and completed and dedicated in 1940, a year after the groundbreaking of the building. The Wall Science Building was named to honor Charles Moses Wall, who lived from 1867 to 1944. Wall was a trustee and the chairman of the building grounds committee at Mars Hill University.

Charles M. Wall Science Building

The Ramsey Center acts as
the medium or bridge between the school and the community. The students use the
Ramsey Center as a means of researching the local history and culture of
Southern Appalachia and then taking their new found knowledge into the world
for others to learn from. Even locals have access to the archives that are
housed in the Ramsey Center so they can delve deeper into their history and
find information thought lost to them. The Ramsey Center tries to achieve this
through programs and festivals. 

The
festivals and programs that the center host is its way of getting out into the
community and spreading the culture and history. Some of these programs held
this fall include; “Rural Academy Theater”. September 28, 2015, “A Panel about
Southern Appalachian Forests” held on October, 29, 2015 along with the co-sponsoring
of, “Symbol And Stereotype: The Civil War and the Image of the Southern
Mountain and Mountaineers.”

One
of the festivals is a Winters Tune: Music to Warm An Appalachian Night, which
is held annually in December. These are just some of the festivals that the
center is connected to and holds. The Winter Tune is in its second year and it
showcases the regions very talented female fiddlers who will play music from
bluegrass to old time. One of the most popular festivals is The Bascom Lamar
Lunsford Festival. This festival is held annually at the college by showcasing
the traditional music and dancing of Southern Appalachia on the first weekend
of October for its 48th straight year. The Lunsford Festival is held
in dedication to a man who established and started many folk festivals in the
area, and he recorded and preserved many ballads. In Asheville there is a folk
dance festival that he established and even a national festival but he only let
this one festival held at Mars Hill College carry his name. All day there are
small jam sessions of local musicians who swap songs and ballads with each
other from when they were growing up, along with performances and dances by
local legends all day long until the main event that evening that is held in
the auditorium. There are also workshops for people interested in learning
about the instruments and culture surrounding them that day. There are also
opportunities for the kids to become involved and learn more about the people
of Appalachia at this festival than they could in a classroom. This is the
Ramsey Center’s goal is to reach out to others and younger generations by
getting them exposed to this rich culture that is being forgotten to the pages
of history.

The Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies was established in September, 1974 by Mars Hill College administration and staff. Its mission is to be a resource for students, staff, and faculty of Mars Hill University, as well as local residents and scholars to learn and discover the culture and history of Madison County and Southern Appalachia. The center is housed within the Renfro Library on the campus of Mars Hill University. Named after former North Carolina Speaker of the House Liston B. Ramsey, the center focuses on five main goals which are; Community Development, Festivals, Preservation, Research, and Studies. The Ramsey Center also houses the Southern Appalachian Archives.

Liston B. Ramsey Center

The Heritage Cabin was originally a one-room school erected on the farm of Robert Wilson Arrington in the 1800s. Named Frog Level School, Arrington’s farm was in Grapevine, a small community northwest of Mars Hill. In the early 1900s, the cabin was the meeting place of Arrington Branch Baptist Church until the congregation built a new church in the mid-1930s. 

Minnie Arrington Coates inherited the cabin from Robert Arrington, and in 1939 Minnie and her husband Regan donated the cabin to Mars Hill College. Under the supervision of Dr. Blackwell and Bryson Tilson, the cabin was moved to a grove near the president’s home, Edgewood. Here the cabin was used as a meeting place for college and community groups, and as the site of Mars Hill College’s annual Thanksgiving Day pageant. 

In 1972, the cabin was moved to its present-day location and used as a craft shop. In 1997, the cabin was refurbished as an informal museum for a short time, and renamed the Mountain Heritage Cabin. 

Mountain Heritage Cabin

Built in 1925, this one-and-a-half story cottage belonged to Ashbel Edward Carter and his wife, Elizabeth. Mr. Carter was the grandson of Edward Carter, who in 1856 sold property that would soon become the campus of Mars Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Carter lived in the house until 1946 when they sold it to the college, and the addition of “Humphrey” to the house’s name honors a gift by Reverend Mr. D.B. Humphrey towards the home’s purchase by the college. The house was used as a dormitory until it was refitted in 2004 to be used as a guesthouse. 

Carter-Humphrey Guest House

The Edgewood House, also known as the President's House, was built in 1925 for the vice president of the college, Philip Lovin Elliot (1891-1961). Elliot was dean of Mars Hill College from 1923-1925, and he was vice president until 1930 when he took a job at Western Carolina Teachers College. The house became the president’s home in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s when college president Hoyt Blackwell lived there until the end of his presidency in 1966. President Blackwell’s successor Dr. Fred Blake Bentley occupied the home during his presidency from 1966 to 1996. Dr. Bentley’s successor Dr. A. Max Lennon lived in the home from 1996 to 2000. Following Dr. Lennon's resignation, the Edgewood House stood empty until it 2015 when it was demolished by the university.

Edgewood House

Joe
Anderson was an
enslaved
African-American from Mars Hill,

North Carolina. Joe
was owned by
Jesse Woodson Anderson, a
founding trustees of Mars Hill College.
During
construction, the college's founders,
including Jesse Anderson, underestimated construction costs, and were
unable to make the final payment to the Asheville based contractor.
This resulted in a 
lien being
placed against the building and
Joe
Anderson was
taken as collateral.
 The trustees had five days to raise the money to make their payment
on the loan; if they failed, Joe would be sold to the highest bidder.
The
money for the payment was eventually raised, and Joe returned home.
Following
the Civil War, Joe
Anderson's remained in Madison County,
until
his death.
In 1932 his remains were taken to the campus, where a marker still
remains.
	Joe Anderson's legacy continued long after his death.
In the 1920s, the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co, Julius
Rosenwald started a fund to help build schools in the rural areas of
Southern states. These schools would allow African-American children
to get an education during the segregation era of the American South.
The schools were financed with matching grants from the Rosenwald Fund, local governments, and contributions from members of local African-American communities. 

	In
1930, one of these schools opened in the Long Ridge community of Mars
Hill, North Carolina, and it was called The Anderson Rosenwald
School. In
1961 the
first African-American student, Oralene Graves Simmons who
is the great-great-granddaughter
of Joe Anderson, was admitted to Mars Hill University.

This site was dedicated in honor of Joe Anderson, a man who was enslaved by Jesse Woodson Anderson, a founding trustee of Mars Hill University. The founding trustees of Mars Hill University, including Jesse Anderson, underestimated construction costs and were unable to make the final payment to the company. In response, they decided to use Joe as collateral for a lien against Mars Hill University shortly after it was founded. After the lien was paid, legal ownership of Joe Anderson returned to Jesse Anderson. Joe Anderson remained in bondage until the end of the American Civil War. Joe Lived the rest of his life quietly on Gabriel's Creek, which just outside of Mars Hill. The Anderson-Rosenwald School, a school for African American children in Madison County during the years of separate schools, was named in his honor and this marker was dedicated to preserving the memory of Joe Anderson and the connection between slavery and Mars Hill. 

Joe Anderson Memorial Site

Bascom
Lamar Lunsford was born in Mars Hill, North Carolina near
the campus of Mars Hill University on
March 21, 1882. His father, a schoolteacher, gave him a fiddle at an
early age. Lunsford's mother sang ballads and religious songs. Later,
Lunsford's brother bought a banjo which Lunsford quickly learned and
began playing at local square-dances, weddings, and school functions.
	
After enrolling at Rutherford College, Lunsford began teaching in his
native Madison County. He later attended Trinity College, which later
became Duke University, and passed the North
Carolina bar
in 1913. It was when Lunsford worked as a fruit tree salesman,
however, that he began learning songs from the customers he met on
isolated farms, reawakening his interest in music, and in the old
songs in particular.
	
He began collecting songs and later gave lectures and recitals on
folk music. He made his first recordings in 1924 on wax cylinders. It
was on February 5, 1928, in Ashland, Kentucky, that Lunsford made
some of his best-known recordings at a session for Brunswick Records.
One song
recorded at this session was Lunsford's own composition, "Old
Mountain Dew," which later became the jingle for the Mountain
Dew soft drink. Lunsford sold the song to the Mountain Dew company
for train fare home.
	
Lunsford was active in Democratic Party politics in his native
Western North Carolina. He managed the campaign for Congressman Zebulon Weaver
in his bid for North Carolina's tenth congressional district. From
1931 to 1934 he was a reading clerk of the North Carolina House of
Representatives. Charles Seeger employed him in the mid-30s to
promote singers in "Skyline Farms", as part of President
Roosevelt's “New Deal”. President Roosevelt invited
Lunsford to the White House
in 1939 to Perform for King George VI of Great Britain. 

	In
1927, the city of Asheville was planning a Rhododendron Festival to
encourage tourism. They asked Lunsford to invite local musician and
dancers to what would eventually become the Mountain Dance and Folk
Festival. Still held annually, it is recognized as the first event to
be labeled a “folk festival.” Lunsford performed there for almost
40 years, until he suffered a stroke in 1965. Lunsford died on 4
September 1973, after several years of declining health.

Bascom Lamar Lunsford was an attorney and a folklorist who became the leading performer and promoter of traditional Appalachian folk music during the early 20th century. Lunsford was born near this marker March 21, 1882, and lived in Mars Hill and the surrounding areas of Western North Carolina until his death in 1973. Known as the “Minstrel of Appalachia”, Lunsford performed and promoted Southern Appalachian across the Unites States of America for several decades. His legacy is preserved in the National Archives and in films, recordings, and festivals. Mars Hill University in Madison County houses the Bascom Lamar Lunsford  Ballad Collection in its Southern Appalachian Archives Collection. Lunsford’s instruments are also on display at the school, and the school hosts an annual festival named for him each October. 

A Self Guided Tour of Mars Hill University's History

Founders Hall

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources