Tompkins Hall (Raleigh, North Carolina)

 department / school of social political science, department of humanities

The original Tompkins Hall was the first textile building on campus, designed to resemble the latest turn-of-the-century cotton mills. Electrical power on the campus was not strong enough to operate the building's equipment, which included carding and spinning machines on the top floor, looms and warp preparations on the ground floor, and dyeing equipment in the basement. The building was destroyed by fire in 1914, and its successor reveals the continued influence of industrial architecture. However, the rebuilt Tompkins Hall displays Renaissance motifs in its high ceilings, central tower, roof brackets, and repeated pattern of white-outlined windows. A tower on the new Tompkins, intended to hold a water tank, was never used and, until 1928, displayed the numerals of the senior class each year. The tower was finally shortened and the building was renovated in 1981 for the humanities and social sciences.