Dill Hall

Dill Hall was formally opened on Saturday, January 11, 1908. The three story building measured 54x100 feet and was built of brick and stone at a cost of about $45,000. The building was named after Mathew T. Dill (a grain merchant and former ND resident then living in Prescott, Wisconsin) who donated $24,000 in securities toward construction. Other notable donors included Dr. E. K. Pearson (who donated $21,000), Mrs. Charlotte M. Fisk (of Boston), and Mrs. Annie L. Woods (also of Boston).

The first floor contained 3 recitation rooms, 2 biological laboratories, 2 chemical laboratories, and 1 physical laboratory. The second floor consisted of 5 recitation rooms, 1 common room, 1 book room, and a YMCA room to be used by young men as a club room. The third floor held a 46 x 97 foot gymnasium (the second best in the state). The finished basement contained the heating plant and lockers and showers. Pictures of the locker room and gymnasium are shown on the next page.

On the evening of January 11, President Vittum and Fargo College faculty hosted hundreds of guests at the building's opening at 7:30 PM. A program of music and addresses was presented at 9 PM.

Dill Hall sat atop a hill overlooking Island Park. The hill itself became to be called Dill Hill.

Sources:

Fargo College Records, MS 153. Institute for Regional Studies Archives, North Dakota State University, Fargo.