WHS 38801
This was the pastoral scene on the ag campus at U.W.-Madison circa 1900. In the background is the Dairy Barn, built in 1897.
For many of us, the agriculture campus at the UW-Madison is something we whiz by at 40 or more miles per hour on Campus Drive.
But for others the ag campus is a gem, a pastoral island in the middle of a city otherwise occupied with paperwork and politics. Less than 2 miles from the Wisconsin Capitol, there are cows. Surely no other state can boast the same.
The historic agricultural campus will be showcased by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation, with 90-minute tours on Oct. 1, every half hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tours start at the Allen Centennial Gardens, 620 Babcock Drive.
Most of the buildings included were built between 1890 and 1917, when agriculture was at the center of the university’s reason for being. As biotech arose, in 1967 the ag college was renamed the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Research by its scientists, including Stephen Babcock, Harry Steenbock, Karl Paul Link and, more recently, Hector DeLuca, has resulted in improved animal and human nutrition, advances in plant genetics and life-saving drugs.
After Bascom Hall was built, the next building to be erected on campus was the Horse Barn, in 1868. It originally displayed elements of both Tudor and Queen Anne architecture. Just across Linden Drive is the 1915 Stock Pavilion, designed by the celebrated firm of Laird and Cret, under the direction of campus architect Arthur Peabody. The pavilion’s acoustics are so good that the Chicago and London Symphonies performed there, as did Paderewski and Rachmaninov. Next door, the 1868 artist-in-residence house is still standing, but slated for demolition, to accommodate expansion of Babcock Hall.
Nearby Hiram Smith Hall (1892), now nearly hidden, was a charming precursor to Craftsman style, with an exterior finish of pebbles. Once home to the entire dairy program, it likely is the only UW building with a second-floor screen porch. Almost adjacent, King Hall (1893) formerly sprouted a huge windmill on its western tower.
But the star of the tour will be the 1897 Dairy Barn. During construction it was hailed as an architectural wonder, and it helped the UW create what came to be known as “the Wisconsin Idea” — disseminating practical university research to state residents.
Experiments carried out at the barn led to the discovery of vitamin A in 1913 and vitamin B in 1915. But perhaps the most striking experiments at the Dairy Barn related simply to its design. It served as a model to farmers internationally who had previously never seen a barn with cupola ventilation or a silo — arguably the first in the country. The barn was named a National Historic Landmark in 2005.
The tour was created by emeritus professor Peter Gottlieb of the School of Library and Information Studies. “While I was putting the tour together, I was thinking about the roots of the Wisconsin Idea and how so many people have benefited from the research, teaching and outreach programs of the ag school,” says Gottlieb.
Tickets are $20/students, $25/Madison Trust members and $30/general admission. Order through Brown Paper Tickets or call 800-838-3006. More info at madisonpreservation.org.
