- Boreman Hall
Boreman Hall is a
residence hall on the campus ofWest Virginia University inMorgantown, West Virginia . Originally called "Men's Hall" when it was constructed in 1935, the hall is named afterArthur I. Boreman , the first governor of the state of West Virginia.With the addition of a new annex building in 1963, Boreman Hall is now actually two separate buildings. Boreman Hall North, the newer of the two, is currently an all
female dorm, the only single sex residence hall on the campus. Boreman Hall South, the older E-shaped building, is coed and includes 10 entrances. These entrances are connected to the others by way of bathrooms and ground floor lounges.Construction on the original building started in 1934 and opened in time for the 1935 school year. With its opening, the university finally had a place for its men to live on campus. Before the hall was completed, men had to either live in fraternity houses,
boarding house s, or with a local Morgantown family.Funding for the building came in part from the federal
Works Progress Administration which was aNew Deal agency set up during theGreat Depression of the 1930s. The building cost $625,000 at the time which is roughly equal to about $8.5 million in 2003US Dollars .During
World War II , the hall was used as anArmy Air Force barracks . Prominent dents in the doors of Boreman hall could still be seen as recently as1999 , remnants ofDrill Instructors striking to doors sharply withrifle butts in order to awaken soldiers/airmen at early hours, especially new recruits. Directly across from the hall, where the currentStudent Union stands, there was a parade field and an armory that were used as training grounds. Residents of the hall were transported to the Morgantown airport, where they were trained by the US Air Force.Since the end of the war, the hall has been used strictly as a residence hall and continues to be used as such today. It has been renovated and remodeled over the years, but it has remained one of the main cornerstones of the West Virginia University community and has often been the building where new programs that have moved campus-wide have been instituted.
The hall is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places .Boreman Hall was selected in 1999 by
High Times magazine as the greatest "pot-smoking dorm" of any dormitory of all that exist in the United States.Fact|date=January 2008References
* Rubin, Scott B. "The History of Boreman Hall South". Morgantown: Morgantown Printing and Binding, 2005.
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