Nott Memorial at Union College

Nott Memorial at Union College. National Historic Landmark - 1986. , Straight ahead you can see the top of the Nott Memorial, North America's only 16-sided building. This beloved symbol of Union College is the centerpiece of America's first planned college campus., In 1806, Union's president, Eliphalet Nott, began acquiring land to move the college uphill from its original Stockade location. Seven years later, Nott commissioned Joseph Ramée, famed French architect and landscape planner, to design the campus. , Ramée would conceive an ambitious, master plan calling for a broad courtyard surrounded by facing buildings, open green space, and gardens. Designed to foster connectedness, this layout was groundbreaking at the time. Early colleges and universities were typically housed in a row of buildings. Ramées plan soon became a model for future campus architecture in the U.S., At its center, Ramée and Nott envisioned a large, round, domed building anchoring the school grounds, though neither would live to see it completed. Lack of funds, due in part to the Civil War, would delay construction of the hall for 60 years., Edward Tuckerman Potter was the architect of the 16-sided structure and grandson of its namesake (Union's longest serving president). Deviating from the campus' neoclassic design, Potter instead chose the bold, colorful Victorian Gothic style of the time., Following a major restoration, the Nott Memorial reopened in 1995 for the Bicentennial of the Colleges founding. Today, Union's campus remains true to Ramées original plan, with the Nott as its centerpiece., photo captions: , The Nott Memorial's exterior is a rainbow of masonry. It includes dark Schenectady bluestone, lighter Ohio sandstone and columns of red and gray Aberdeen granite. The dome and hip roof include three colors of Vermont slate. The interior boasts a kaleidoscope of color from its beautiful tiled floor to the sparkling colored lights of its domed ceiling., The Nott Memorial has housed the college library, bookstore and a theater. Today, the three floors include an event space, open art galleries and quiet study areas., Thank you to Union College and the National Historic Marker Database.