{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use American English|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Dallas Hall | nrhp_type = | image = Dallas Hall on the campus of Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas LCCN2015630915.jpg | caption = | location = 3225 University Blvd.,<br />University Park, Texas | coordinates = {{coord|32|50|42|N|96|47|5|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = | map_label = | locmap_relief = | built = {{Start date|1915}} | architect = Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge | architecture = Colonial Revival, Neo-Georgian | added = November 17, 1978 | area = Less than one acre | mpsub = [https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/AdvancedSearch/MPS?mpsid=31 Georgian Revival Buildings of Southern Methodist University TR (AD)] | refnum = 78002913<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref> | designated_other1=Texas | designated_other1_date=1979 | designated_other1_number=[https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5113006670 6670] | designated_other1_num_position=bottom }} '''Dallas Hall''' is a historic building on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas. Influenced by the Roman Pantheon and architecture by Thomas Jefferson, it was constructed by the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in 1915. The first building on campus, it housed most of the university's operations. The campus has since been expanded around Dallas Hall, but it remains the center of SMU. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dallas Hall Southern Methodist University Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=148837 |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>
==History== {{See also|Southern Methodist University#History}} Dallas Hall was designed by the Chicago branch of the architectural firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge.<ref name="nyt"/> Robert Stewart Hyer (1860–1929), the first President of SMU, chose Georgian architecture after the Thomas Jefferson-designed architecture of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.<ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last=Norman|first=Michael|date=December 30, 1987|title=Lessons|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/30/us/lessons.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref><ref>Nancy Capace, ''Encyclopedia of Texas'', North American Book, 2001, Volume 1, p. 139 [https://books.google.com/books?id=RePkhLzUjlEC&dq=%22dallas+hall%22&pg=RA1-PA139]</ref><ref name="dallaslandmarks">[https://books.google.com/books?id=L8px7TLGwB4C&dq=%22dallas+hall%22&pg=PA98 ''Dallas Landmarks'', Arcadia Publishing, 2009, p. 98]</ref> The building's architecture was inspired by the Pantheon.<ref name="d"/> As a sign of appreciation towards local citizens who had given 622.5 acres and $300,000 to found the campus, it was named "Dallas Hall" in their honor.<ref name="texas">{{cite web|url=https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5113006670|title=Details for Dallas Hall (SMU) (Atlas Number 5113006670)|website=Texas Historica Sites Atlas|publisher=Texas Historical Commission|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>
Construction began in 1912, and the cornerstone was laid on November 28, 1912.<ref name="dallasnews">{{cite news|last=Repko|first=Melissa|date=November 28, 2012|title=SMU's first building, Dallas Hall, celebrates 100 years|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2012/11/29/smus-first-building-dallas-hall-celebrates-100-years/|work=The Dallas Morning News|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref> It was dedicated in 1915, making it the first building on campus.<ref name="dallaslandmarks"/><ref name="dallasnews"/><ref name="businessweek">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100214180829/http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/10/1008_SMU_school_tour/7.htm Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Dallas Hall]</ref> The site chosen for Dallas Hall is one of the highest points in Dallas County.<ref name="d"/> It stood alone on a flat prairie.<ref name="dallasnews"/> This, and the building's monumental size, is the origin of SMU's nickname, "The Hilltop".<ref name="businessweek"/><ref name="d"/> Constructed of brick, it is three stories tall.<ref name="nyt"/> The building was oriented so that the crest of the building perfectly aligned with the Praetorian Building, then the tallest building in Dallas.<ref name="d">{{cite web|url=https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1998/january/history-dallas-hall-and-the-hilltop/|title=HISTORY Dallas Hall and the Hilltop|last=Peeler|first=Tom|date=January 1998|website=D Magazine|access-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>
Upon its opening, all of the university's facilities, except for female dorms and temporary housing for some male students, were housed in Dallas Hall.<ref name="d"/> It housed all classrooms for a decade after opening.<ref name="texas"/> Over the years, it has been home to classrooms, offices, a chapel, a hamburger grill, a post office and a barbershop.<ref name="dallaslandmarks"/><ref name="dallasnews"/> A highly symmetrical campus has since been constructed around Dallas Hall.<ref name="d"/> It celebrated its 100th anniversary on November 12, 2012, with a dinner for university administrators and donors.<ref name="dallasnews"/> It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 17, 1978.<ref name="texas"/>
Dallas Hall is used for SMU's convocations and graduations.<ref name="dallasnews"/>
==Image gallery== <gallery> File:Dallas Hall on Southern Methodist University Campus, Dallas (23151013129).jpg|Dallas Hall in 1921 File:SMU seal.png|School's seal within the building File:Southern Methodist University July 2016 107 (Dallas Hall).jpg|A distant view </gallery>
==See also== {{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Texas}} *National Register of Historic Places listings in Dallas County, Texas *Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Dallas County
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Dallas Hall (Southern Methodist University)|Dallas Hall}}
{{Southern Methodist University}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Texas}}
Category:Houses completed in 1915 Category:1915 establishments in Texas Category:University and college buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Category:Buildings and structures in Dallas Category:Georgian architecture in Texas Category:Southern Methodist University Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dallas Category:Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks