{"nrhp_refnum":"74002204","name":"Richardson Hall, St. Lawrence University","other_names":["College Building","Main Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"St. Lawrence University campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canton","county":"St. Lawrence County","state":"NY","lat":44.592109590000064,"lon":-75.16305135099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Richardson Hall, also called the College Building or Main Hall, is a three-story red brick building on the St. Lawrence University campus in Canton, New York. It was built in 1856 as the university's first building.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the hall as the progressive beginning of St. Lawrence University, which the Universalist Church founded and which was among the first coeducational colleges in New York State. The building housed the dining room, chapel, classrooms and dormitory space in the college's early years. It remains a functional and symbolic link to the founding of the university, though its interior has been heavily altered.","narrative":"Richardson Hall is a three-story red brick building on the crest of the hill at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Built in 1856 as the college's first building, it rises from a high sandstone basement and is eleven bays wide, with porches featuring paired Corinthian columns, a bracketed cornice, a nearly flat roof and a square cupola. The Universalist Church founded the university, and the building once held the dining room, chapel, classrooms and dormitory space. Men and women lived there during the 1860s, after the first woman applicant was accepted in 1861, which placed the college among the earliest coeducational institutions in the state. Fraternities and secret societies later met on its third floor. The hall took its present name in 1906, honoring Mary A. Richardson, who was responsible for its renovation. A second renovation in 1962 replaced the interior structure, yet stained glass windows by Gardner and Veitch remain, and the building still serves as a classroom facility.","period_of_significance":"1855-6 (specific date given); 19th and 20th centuries checked","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in excellent condition and altered, on its original site; occupied and used for education, with twelve modern classrooms, a language lab, a seminar room and offices after a 1962 renovation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.75691-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/74002204.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002204/16a3e41317-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002204/16a3e41317-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Mwanner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richardson_Hall_at_St._Lawrence_University.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mwanner</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richardson_Hall_at_St._Lawrence_University.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321924","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson_Hall,_St._Lawrence_University","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7330331"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/st-lawrence-county/richardson-hall-st-lawrence-university-74002204/"}