DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to do it justice. Now, when you're driving through Dallas and you spot that grand domed building standing watch over the SMU campus, you're looking at something that started with a promise. A big one.
Back in 1911, when Dallas was chosen as the site for a new Methodist university, local citizens didn't just offer congratulations — they pledged six hundred and twenty-two and a half acres of land and three hundred thousand dollars. That's how serious they were about landing this institution. And in appreciation for that kind of commitment, the very first building on campus was given the city's own name: Dallas Hall.
Now, SMU President Robert S. Hyer had some ideas about how that building ought to look. He turned to the Chicago Branch of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge to design it, and whoever was doing the imagining in that firm had their eyes on something older and grander — Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia.
You can feel it when you see the place. When Dallas Hall finally opened in 1915, it didn't just host a dedication ceremony and call it done. For a solid decade, that one building held everything — every classroom, every university office, the chapel, and the library.
The whole university, under one roof. Some buildings anchor a campus. Dallas Hall was the campus.
What the marker says
DALLAS HALL, SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY When Dallas was selected in 1911 as the site for a new Methodist university, local citizens pledged 622.5 acres of land and $300,000. In appreciation, the first building on campus was named Dallas Hall. SMU President Robert S. Hyer chose the Chicago Branch of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge to design the Hall. Influenced by Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia, it opened in 1915 and for a decade housed all classrooms, university offices, the chapel and the library. RTHL - 1979