UNC History 101

One of my favorite things about campus is the historical district of central campus. So today I'm going to give you a brief history about UNC. The university was established in 1889 and we were or8iginally called the State Normal School and our mascot was the teacher. Wow talk about an intimidating mascot. "Ahhh loo out its the teachers". Luckily now were the bears. "Ahhhhh look out its the bears". Now that sounds scary. Anyways... The first building built on campus was Cranford Hall back in 1889 when the school first opened. Unfortunately after many years of wear and tear and then a fire they tore down the building in 1972. Today the cornerstone of Cranford hall still stands. They say that if you kiss your sweet heart at midnight in front of the cornerstone you will find true love.

The oldest building still standing on campus is Carter Hall. It was built in 1907 and was originally the library for the university. Today it is our administration building where we have financial aid, student employment, and many more offices. One of my favorite buildings on campus is Gunter. The out side is a beautiful cathedral look building and was dedicated in 1928. It was originally the gymnasium for the university where there was two gyms, a swimming, pool, and examining physician rooms. The building was renovated in 1996 and today it is now the College of Natural and Health Sciences. The old center counrt still remains in the main hall way for all to see and remember what the building used to be. It is said to be bad luck to walk across the center court but the nursing students will walk around it counter clockwise 3 times for good luck on their finals.

Now lets move onto Kepner Hall. Today Kepner is where we have out Monfort College of Business. Back in the day it used to be the training school. The State Normal School would bus students in from kindergarten to high school to be taught by the teaching students of the Normal School. The building was renovated in 1987 and is the home to the Malcome Baldridge National Quality Award.

Gray Hall Was the cool place to be back in the day. It was built in 1916 and was the "Woman's Club". Eventually it was opened to men and was the student union until 1964. Today it is where we have our UNC police department, parking services, and Norton Theatre.

If you would like more history about the buildings on campus feel free to go to the campus map and click on the buildings for fun historical facts.
http://www.unco.edu/uncmap/

Have a BearTastic Day.