National Register of Historic Places
University of Kansas Historic District
Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas
The record
- Listed
- April 16, 2013
- Type
- Historic district
- Address
- Roughly bounded by W Campus Rd., S edge of Jayhawk Blvd., Sunnyside Ave., Lilac Ln., Oread Ave., and W 13th St., Lawrence
- County
- Douglas
- State
- Kansas
- Contributing resources
- 9 buildings, 5 structures, 6 sites, 6 objects
- Coordinates
- 38.96054, -95.24744
- Reference number
- 13000167
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The University of Kansas Historic District is a historic district in Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, covering about 80 acres of the campus, roughly bounded by West Campus Road, Jayhawk Boulevard, Sunnyside Avenue, Lilac Lane, Oread Avenue and West 13th Street. It was listed in the National Register in 2013.
Why it's listed
It was listed under criteria A and C, with criteria considerations B and G, and carries state-level significance in architecture, education and landscape architecture. Its period of significance runs from 1863, when Lawrence became the university's site, to 1951, when the Memorial Carillon and Campanile was completed.
Physical character
The district holds 9 contributing buildings, 6 sites, 5 structures and 6 objects, along with noncontributing buildings, structures, sites and objects. Its buildings combine stone, brick and terra cotta walls on limestone or concrete foundations, tile, slate or metal roofs, and towers, stone arcades and columned porticoes. A wide asphalt boulevard and lilac plantings run through the grounds.
Historical context
Its charter was approved in 1864, and preparatory classes began in 1866 and 1867. John G. Haskell designed Old Fraser Hall in 1872, the Old Power Plant in 1887, and Bailey Hall in 1900, while Van Brunt & Howe designed Spooner Hall in 1891 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. George E. Kessler's firm prepared the campus's first master plan in 1904, and Hare & Hare later revised plans that shaped Memorial Drive, completed in 1946.