Landscape Information
Located approximately four miles northeast of the city’s inner harbor, this relatively level, 185-acre campus is situated primarily between Hillen Road and Herring Run. Founded in 1867, this HBCU (Historically Black College and University) received a grant from Andrew Carnegie in 1915 and in 1917 purchased the 65-acre Ivy Mill and Farm. In 1919 a building, named after Carnegie, was erected northeast of Hillen Road, constructed with stone quarried on site.
In 1939 the state purchased the institution and a chapel (1941), designed by architect Albert Cassell, was established southwest of Carnegie Hall. In 1944 college president, Dr. Dwight Holmes announced the need for capital improvements. Working with Taylor and Fisher architects, Dr. Holmes planned buildings, landscape features, and circulation. In 1948 Dr. Holmes and his successor, Dr. Martin Jenkins, laid out a twenty-year plan for the campus. In the 1950s several original stone buildings were demolished, the former entrance was replaced by a perimeter road, and additional acreage was acquired. Buildings were established including ones designed by architects Cassell, Hilyard Robinson, and Louis Fry, Sr.
Between 1938 and 1974 several neoclassical-style buildings were established west of Carnegie Hall, forming a quadrangle. Dotted with mature oaks, it is navigated by linear, symmetrical brick paths. The quadrangle’s northern edge includes Holmes Hall (1952), which when established, marked the center of the campus. An angled path, oriented on axis with Holmes Hall, extends south, bisecting the quadrangle, was rehabilitated by Mahan Rykiel Associates landscape architect in 2011. The path continues south, where it crosses Cold Spring Lane via the Welcome Bridge (1964) to meet a linear promenade edged by buildings.
The Memorial Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and a campus master plan prepared by WTW Architects was adopted in 2018.
