College Hall (University of Pennsylvania)

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox building

| name = College Hall

| image = North facade of College Hall, Penn Campus.jpg

| image_size = 250px

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| image_caption = College Hall at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in May 2015

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| building_type = Academic, research

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| location = University City

| address = 3450 Woodland Walk
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

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| opened_date = {{Start date|1872}}{{cite web |url=https://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps/locations/david-rittenhouse-laboratory |title= David Rittenhouse Laboratory |publisher=Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania |accessdate=February 13, 2018}}

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| owner = University of Pennsylvania

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| architectural = Victorian gothic

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| material = Stone

| size = {{convert|110266|sqft}}

| floor_count = 6

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| elevator_count = 1

| grounds_area = {{convert|0.5|acre}}

| architect = Thomas W. Richards

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| embedded = {{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name = College Hall, University of Pennsylvania

| nrhp_type = nrhp

| nrhp_type2 = cp

| nocat = yes

| image = University of Pennsylvania College Hall.jpg

| caption = College Hall in 1892

| location = Bounded by Walnut, Spruce, 34th, and 36th Sts., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| coordinates = {{coord|39|57|4.6|N|75|11|37.5|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Philadelphia#Pennsylvania#USA

| area = {{convert|0.5|acre}}

| built = 1872

| architect = Thomas W. Richards

| architecture = Victorian Gothic

| added = February 14, 1978

| refnum = 78002444{{NRISref|2007a}}

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College Hall is the oldest building on the West Philadelphia campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to its construction, the university was located on Ninth Street in Center City, Philadelphia. The building was designed by Thomas Webb Richards and completed in 1873. The characteristic green color of the building is due to its composition of green serpentine stone.

College Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places February 14, 1978.[http://www.uchs.net/HistoricDistricts/collegehall.html Application for Historical Registry] It is also a contributing property of the University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District.

The building currently houses the undergraduate admissions office, the university president's offices, the Department of History, and classrooms.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604131539/http://www.upenn.edu/admissions/tour/tourstop.php?stop=1 Virtual Tour of Penn's Campus: College Hall] The top floor of College Hall was purpose built for the Zelosophic and Philomathean Societies, and is presently home to the Philomathean Society, a literary society founded in 1813.

Although College Hall and the now-demolished Blanchard Hall were rumored to be the model for the Victorian Gothic mansion in The Addams Family cartoons, the cartoonist Charles Addams repeatedly denied the claims.{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=George|title=Building America's First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania|year=2000|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0812235159|page=142|author2=Brownlee, David Bruce}}