The Hiram Smith Hall and Annex is part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

[2] The University of Wisconsin was created in 1848, with its early buildings on the east side of Bascom Hill, facing the state capitol.

[3] Early on, the UW taught a classical curriculum, focusing on geography, English grammar, Latin and Greek.

[5] In 1886 the UW initiated its Short Course in Agriculture - twelve weeks of practical instruction for farmers, held in the winter when they weren't busy with crops.

[5] This quick and simple test let creameries pay individual farmers more for better-quality milk, encouraging improvement of herds and cattle care, and helped the dairy industry grow.

[8] (One of Dean Henry's tactics was to have legislators observe students making butter and cheese in that first dairy building, to see how crowded it was.)

Typical of the style are the complex roof, the asymmetric facade and tower, the prominent chimneys, and the various surface textures.

Smith Hall is considered significant at a national level as housing the first permanent dairy school in the U.S., and for its association with scientists Stephen Babcock and Harry Luman Russell.

It is considered significant at a local level as a rare Queen Anne design for an education building on the UW campus.