Buildings and Properties Collection

Beloit College was founded in 1846, when the village of Beloit, Wisconsin offered the college founders $7,000 in supplies, materials, labor, and a small amount of cash, which became the backbone of the institution's physical form. The cornerstone and foundation for Middle College, the oldest college building northwest of Chicago in continuous academic operation, was laid in 1847.

Since then, the Beloit College campus has undergone many additions and transformations. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century and into the beginning of the 20th, college administrators initiated construction of a new gymnasium and the Logan Museum of Anthropology. After World War I, President Melvin Brannon's era saw substantial growth in the endowment assets of the College and a refurbishing of the physical plant.

World War II sharply reduced enrollment and presented many other problems. In 1944, Carey Croneis became College president, and his nine-year administration saw an influx of war veterans swell enrollment to more than 1,000, and additional buildings like the Field House and other campus improvements were completed.

The administration of Miller Upton, who served for 21 years, was marked by a long period of intensive self-study. This led to a series of far-reaching curricular changes, including enrollment growth to the highest level in Beloit's history and the extensive development of the physical plant. This building period included a new library, science center, performing arts center, anthropology building, and seven new residential buildings.

During President Roger Hull's administration starting in 1981, Beloit College accelerated plant improvements, including new facilities for music and economics, extensive renovation of residence halls, creation of a new campus center and sports-fitness center and a multi-million-dollar library renovation.

Victor E. Ferrall, Jr. was named Beloit College's ninth president in 1991. Over the course of his tenure, the College's endowment more than doubled and Beloit College undertook one of the largest programs of physical plant reconstruction in its history. Residence halls, academic facilities in Morse-Ingersoll and Smith halls, sports facilities at Strong Stadium, and both college museums underwent major renovation. Karris Field and The Beloit Poetry Garden were also added to the campus.

In the fall of 2003, Beloit College initiated the preparation of a Master Plan for the entire campus, the intent of which was to create a vision that would enrich the campus legacy and embody the academic Strategic Plan in the physical plant over the next 25 years. This plan included the acquisition of the western portion of Emerson Street and portions of College and Clary streets. Construction on the platinum-level LEED certified Center for the Sciences was completed in 2008.

As of 2012, Beloit's wooded forty-acre campus includes twenty-eight buildings in a range of architectural styles; four buildings are listed on the National or State Register of Historic Places. The campus is marked by winding pathways, expansive lawns, displays of public art, and ancient Indian mounds.