Mars Hill in Madison County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Spilman Hall
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 2023
1. Spilman Hall Marker
1907 Treat Dormitory of male students Milo Clinton Treat, Matching Gift Architect Unknown
1921 Spilman Home for Girls Donors: Dr. and Mrs. Barnard Washington Spilman, Home for Girls, and Southern Baptist Home Mission Board, Northern Brick Addition Dr. Robert Lee Moore, President
1941 Spilman Renovation, Parlor/Sun Porch Henry Irven Gaines, Architect Dr. Hoyt Blackwell, President
Building Usage 1907-1921 Men's Dormitory 1921-1945 Women's Dormitory 1945-1968 Men's Dormitory 1968- Adult Education, Summer Conferences, Upward Bound, Theatre Arts Department; Marketing and Communications
Annex 1921-1938 Oscar Sams Dining Hall 1938-1974 Building and Grounds 2015 Annex removed
National Register of Historic Places
September 12, 2006
Erected by Mars Hill College.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Charity & Public Work • Education. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1906.
Location. 35°
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mars Hill College (a few steps from this marker); Mars Hill University (a few steps from this marker); Rural Heritage Museum (within shouting distance of this marker); Marshbanks Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Founders Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Bascom Lamar Lunsford (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); McConnell Hall (about 300 feet away); a different marker also named Mars Hill College (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mars Hill.
Regarding Spilman Hall. Excerpt from the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Mars Hill College Historic District, of which Spilman Hall is a contributing building:
This large Colonial Revival-style brick building, whose appearance reflects its original completion in 1907, a major expansion on the north end in 1921, and a renovation in 1941, is associated with two important benefactors of Mars Hill College. In 1905 Milo Clinton Treat agreed todonate $2,000 to the college for a boy's club facility if a like sum could be raised. The matching funds and others were raised, this site was acquired, plans for the building secured, and construction began on the two-and-a-half-story gambrel-roof building in 1906. This lot had earlier been the site of Spivey Hall, a boarding house for boys, operated by the Reverend Frank A. Clarke who, with his wife, conveyed the property to the school in February 1906 (Madison Deeds, 25/153). Treat Dormitory was dedicated on 28 August 1907. From 1907 to 1921 the building was a dormitory for male students at Mars Hill College.Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 20232. Spilman Hall Marker
In 1920 major gifts from the Baptist Home Mission Board and Dr. Bernard Washington Spilman provided funds to essentially double the size of the original building by the construction of a three-story-on-basement block extending north from the 1907 building. It provided dormitory rooms on the upper three levels and a new college dining room, kitchen, bakery, and storage facilities in the basement, which was effectively on ground level, and a two-level west wing. The conventional frame porch on the front was replaced with an expansive Colonial Revival-style porch which wrapped around its southeast and southwest corners and carried down the respective east and west elevations of the dormitory. The L-shaped southwest part of the porch was glazed as a sun porch. Honoring the conditions of the Spilman gift the building was renamed Spilman Home for Girls, and with its completion in summer 1921 it housed 100 girls for the year's fall term.
Also see . . . Mars Hill College Historic District (PDF). National Register nomination for the district, which was listed in 2006. (National Archives) (Submitted on July 28, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 28, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 28, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 51 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 28, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
