Palmer's Built Landscape Through the Years

Eliot Hall

Rumored to be designed by architect Harry Barton, this eight-bay boys’ dorm is not symmetrical. Construction of the two-story brick dormitory began in the early 1930s, but due to the Great Depression, funding ran out, and construction stopped in 1934. Eliot Hall was originally meant to mirror Galen Stone Hall. The half of the building that was constructed cost a total of $43,000. Although the full length of the building was not completed, this Colonial Revival building has classical architectural features. There is a slate hipped roof with dormers on the top floor. There is a petite entrance with a porch on the north facade.

The hall takes its name from Charles W. Eliot, a Palmer supporter who was president of Harvard University. Located inside this dormitory for boys was also a lounge area, communal bathrooms, and space for studying.

Brice-Maye Cottage

Brice-Maye cottage is a one-story frame building with a gable roof and a small gabled entrance porch. It was moved to its current location from the campus farm on Palmer Farm Road in the 1960s and housed sub-freshman (7th and 8th grade) boys.

Brightside and Gregg

Constructed around 1930, these one-story weatherboard bungalows cost approximately $5,500 to complete. Originally, the cottages were used to house married teachers and faculty members. They are both topped with a gabled roof with widely overhanging eaves. There is a porch with several posts in a cluster holding up the porch ceiling connected with decorative wooden board called lattice. The American Missionary Association provided funding for the cottages.

Carrie M. Stone Teacher's Cottage

This two and a half story brick veneer Dutch Colonial Bungalow style house was designed by architect Charles C. Hartmann to resemble Canary Cottage and is almost identical to the Massachusetts Congregational Women’s Cottage. Carrie M. Stone Cottage opened around 1949 and housed single female teachers. It is currently used as the site visitor center.

Canary Cottage

Completed in 1927, Canary Cottage was the personal residence of Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown. This two-and-a-half story Dutch Colonial Bungalow house has a steep gable roof with braced eaves and curved rafter ends. Dr. Brown’s personal screened-in porch is located on the left side of the house. On the rear of the house, there is a one-story kitchen ell.

This house was the model for the Massachusetts Congregational Women’s Cottage and the Carrie M. Stone Cottage. What sets Canary Cottage apart from these structures is its canary yellow color and the weatherboard siding.

Stouffer

This building is a one-story brick veneered structure with a flat roof located behind the Alice Freeman Palmer plaza. Stouffer Hall was constructed in 1966 as a science hall and designed to not draw attention away from the Alice Freeman Palmer building, the architectural splendor of campus. Stouffer Hall featured a state-of-the-art greenhouse which students used during Science courses.

Tea House

Constructed around 1929, the Tea House was the campus bookstore and snack shop. It also served as a hands-on learning center for business management. Senior boys ran the snack shop as part of their economics coursework.

This one-story wooden building has a low-pitched roof with a gable on the front left of the building. Later added, the long section on the west side of the building was used as a student lounge. Recently, the museum has been granted funds from the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program to renovate and restore the building.

Bell Tower

Memorial Hall, PMI’s first classroom building, was constructed in 1905 and held the original bell tower. The current bell tower was constructed in 1922, and holds the original bell. Standing about 10 feet tall, the first floor of the tower is approximately 8.3 square feet topped with a pyramidal roof. It is believed to be the oldest standing structure on the campus. A Senior boy served as the bell ringer, ringing the bell to signal the start of classes and meals.

Galen Stone Hall

Constructed in 1926 by architect Harry Barton, this one bay, two-story Colonial Revival brick building cost $115,000 to complete. It has a slate-covered, hipped roof with dormer windows rights above the third floor, a detailed classical central portico with Doric columns, and a pediment dentil decorated entablature. Located on each end of the building are porches with a classical entrance. Galen Stone Hall is said to be the most architecturally notable building remaining on campus. It was used as girls’ housing.

Galen Stone also housed a dormitory beauty salon, office, lounge area with a television, bedroom and bathroom for the dorm matron, guest rooms, laundry facilities, and sick rooms. Galen Stone Hall was named after Mr. and Mrs. Galen Stone, two of the school’s major Northern contributors.

Massachusetts Congregational Women's Cottage

This two-and-a-half brick veneer building was designed by architect Charles C. Hartmann in 1948. Influenced by a Dutch Colonial Bungalow, this house has a steep gable rood with braced eaves. The entrance has a small pediment, decorated by flat, rectangular columns, or pilasters, that barely project past the surface of the house. The home’s kitchen is in a one-story ell at the rear of the house.

The house is almost identical to the Carrie M. Stone Cottage; both cottages were designed to resemble Canary Cottage. This house served as the “domestic science” cottage where senior girls took turns living for six weeks at a time to learn how to run a household properly.

Alice Freeman Palmer Building

This building was Palmer Memorial Institute’s first brick building and was built in 1922. Lumber used in the construction was cut from the property, and students made the building’s 225,00 bricks. The AFP building was the center of campus life. Designed by Winston-Salem architect C. Gilbert Humphreys, the three-story, Greek revival inspired building was the most expensive building on PMI’s campus, requiring $170,000 to complete. This included the furnishings. It was also the first building in Sedalia to have electricity and plumping.

The elegant ionic columns holding up the simply decorated pediment portico highlighted the protruding front entrance. There was also a large, rectangular cement decoration framing the outer bays of the building.

Each interior floor served a separate purpose. The first floor housed the science and home-economics laboratories, etiquette classroom, the music room, and the domestic art room. The second floor was home to the school auditorium, seating 230 individuals. Each morning starting at 8:30, chapel was held in this auditorium. The third floor housed the school library and the first art collection held by a Black school in the South. Boys and girls entered from opposite ends of the building, boys entering from the west and girls entering from the east. This building was believed to be fireproof; however, the building was destroyed in an electrical fire in 1971.

Although the building is no longer standing, there is a memorial brick plaza resting within the original foundation walls of the building. A base from one of the four columns that once stood in front of the building at the top of the stairs also remains.

Grew Hall

In 1910, Grew Hall opened as a new boys’ dormitory. This white, two-story building was named after Mrs. H.S. Grew. It stood close to Highway 70 until 1924 when it was destroyed by a fire. This is believed to be the building's approximate location.

Campus Gym

The school gymnasium was located where the picnic shelter is today. It was constructed with the help of Palmer’s students in the 1930s and was torn down in the 1980s. Students held dances, including prom, and roller-skating parties in the gym.

Grinnell Cottage

Grinnell Cottage was completed around 1909 and was used as the school’s first domestic science hall, used in a way similar to the Massachusetts Congregational Women's Cottage. The cottage later became a boys’ dormitory after the Grew Hall fire of 1924. Grinnell Cottage was a two-story white house with a front porch. This is believed to be the approximate location of Grinnell Cottage.

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall was constructed in 1905 by community members and students at a total cost of $1300. The funds used to construct Memorial Hall were primarily donated by wealthy northern Whites. Memorial Hall was a three-story wood framed building with a wide porch that wrapped around the side and front of the building. The building also featured a bell tower that was constructed in 1922. It's believed to have been located in this general area.