Thomas Jefferson designed the University to have approximately 110 rooms holding two or three students in each room. However, over time, the University reached this capacity and still expanded. This influx of students created a demand for more and larger
classrooms, and this expansion to fulfill demand came in a boxy,
rectangular addition to the north side of Jefferson's Rotunda.
In the early 1850s, the University asked Robert Mills to design this addition, as he was one of the foremost architects at the time (architect of the Washington Monument) and even a prot
g
of Jefferson's. Called the Annex, the addition was completed in 1853.And over time it held one of the first electrical engineering
departments in the United States, but ironically due to faulty
electrical wiring, fire started to spread in the Annex early Sunday
morning, October 27, 1895.
Mathematics professor "Red" Echols (Echols dorm, Echols
Scholars) knew he could save the day. He felt that if he could destroy the Annex with blasts of dynamite, the Annex would fall in on itself; thus, the fire would be contained within the crumbled Annex, and the Rotunda would be spared. He attached one
hundred pounds of dynamite to the columns that supported the roof that connected the Annex to the Rotunda. After a massive explosion, the columns fell to pieces, but the roof remained.
Therefore, the fire could still potentially spread to the Rotunda. Through the opaque smoke, the intent Echols then heroically scaled the Rotunda with 50 more pounds of dynamite. He threw the dynamite onto the connecting roof, and the blast was so violent that it was heard from fifteen miles away.Sadly, this second blast did not live up to Echols' expectations -- it actually spread the fire to the Rotunda. The Annex crumbled, and the Rotunda burned. The only remnants were the Rotunda's outer shell and a pile of rubble. Immediately after, the Board of Visitors was looking for new architects to build the new Rotunda.
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