# Venable Hall

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**Venable Hall** is a dormitory at [Hampden–Sydney College](/source/Hampden%E2%80%93Sydney_College) in [southside Virginia](/source/Southside_Virginia). Built in sections from 1824 to 1830, Venable Hall is the second oldest dormitory on Hampden–Sydney's campus. The building is listed in the [Virginia Landmarks Register](/source/Virginia_Landmarks_Register) (1969) and on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) (1970)[2] as a contributing property to Hampden–Sydney College Historic District.

## History

Construction of Venable Hall began in 1824 and was completed in three separate phases by 1830. The building was designed and constructed by [Dabney Cosby](/source/Dabney_Cosby)[3] in the [Federal style of architecture](/source/Federal_Style) and designed to complement [Cushing Hall](/source/Cushing_Hall).

When completed in 1830, the building was the home of the [Union Theological Seminary](/source/Union_Presbyterian_Seminary). Venable Hall provided the first Presbyterian seminary in the South and eventually became the head institution of the [Southern Presbyterian Church](/source/Presbyterian_Church_in_the_United_States). The seminary existed in Hampden–Sydney until 1898 when it moved to its current location in [Richmond](/source/Richmond,_Virginia).[3]

Subsequent to the Seminary's move to Richmond, Major Richard Venable, Hampden–Sydney Class of 1857, bought its buildings for $10,000 and gave them to the college, doubling the size of the campus. Named in his honor, Venable Hall is now a residence hall and contains the Parents & Friends Lounge, the former Seminary chapel.[4] Graduation, typically held in May, is conducted in the front lawn of Venable Hall.

## References

1. [\[1\]](http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/RegisterMasterList.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170627142023/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/registermasterlist.pdf) 2017-06-27 at the Wayback Machine, Master List of Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places

1. [The Council of Independent Colleges](http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/cgi-bin/cic/library?a=d&d=p760) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120405054539/http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/cgi-bin/cic/library?a=d&d=p760) 2012-04-05 at the Wayback Machine, Historic Campus Architecture Project

1. [Hampden–Sydney Buildings](http://www.hsc.edu/Museum/EAM/Then-and-Now.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110929022804/http://www.hsc.edu/Museum/EAM/Then-and-Now.html) 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, H-SC Then & Now

## External links

- [Venable Hall - Hampden–Sydney College](https://web.archive.org/web/20110929022804/http://www.hsc.edu/Museum/EAM/Then-and-Now.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Venable Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venable_Hall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venable_Hall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.