University of Alabama Quad

Originally designed by architect William Nichols, construction of the university campus began in 1828, following the move of the Alabama state capital from Cahaba to Tuscaloosa in 1826.

[1][2][3] The overall design for this early version of the campus was patterned after Thomas Jefferson's plan for the University of Virginia, with its Lawn and Rotunda.

[4] Following the destruction of the campus during the American Civil War, a new Quad emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Different in form and function from the original design of the early 19th century, the modern Quad continues to fill its role as the heart of the campus.

A popular gathering place, the Quad is home to pep rallies, a bonfire during homecoming, and numerous day-to-day student activities.

A primary lane ran from the Lyceum in the north, circled the rotunda, and continued on to the President's Mansion in the south.

The Rotunda, completed in 1833, was a three-story brick structure surmounted by a dome and surrounded by a two-story colonnade of twenty-four Ionic columns.

Two one-story frame buildings, Johnson and Lee halls, were built in 1863, one between Washington and Franklin and another between Jefferson and Madison.

During the war the university became known as the "West Point of the Confederacy," sending roughly 200 cadets into the field each year.

On April 3, 1865 Union Brigadier General John T. Croxton and 1500 cavalrymen approached Tuscaloosa with orders to destroy all targets of military value in the town.

In the midst of carrying out his orders, university faculty pleaded with Johnston to spare the Rotunda and its library.

Two smaller Gothic Revival-style buildings, Tuomey and Oliver-Barnard halls were completed in 1889, directly on the Quad to the south of the Manly, Clark, and Garland grouping.