This 1920's photograph shows the empty land north of the main quadrangle, dwarfed by the looming Main Building.
Twenty years later Belvin Hall became the northern most point of campus.
The northern side of Buchanan Hall.
 
 
buildingshsu
 
Belvin-Buchanan Hall
 
Students coming to Huntsville to attend Sam Houston Normal Institute lived in boarding houses, many situated within walking distance of the fledging campus. These private residences were opened up by their owners to allow students a place to live, study, and socialize. It stands to reason, then, that when the university began plans for a four-story dormitory north of the main campus that the owners of these boarding houses might be worried of being run out of business [85].

Built in the midst of the Great Depression, Belvin Hall was erected with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) on property once belonging to landowner Seth Gay.

The red brick building was built exclusively for women and contained sitting parlors and two dining halls, in addition to the living quarters. By 1945, the population of the university had increased such that a new dormitory was required - Buchanan Hall, an addition to Belvin situated parallel to University Avenue, housed another 100-plus students.

Entering its seventh decade of use, Belvin-Buchanan Hall houses over 200 female students and is home to one of the main campus cafeterias.

Incidentally, Belvin Hall was built near where the first campus cafeteria once stood, a large temporary frame building constructed in 1922.
 
 
1008 17th Street
 
 
Namesake
Caroline Belvin
Rosa P. Buchanan
 
 
1934 - Belvin
1945 - Buchanan
Summer-Fall 2006 - Closed for renovations
January 2007 - Reopens
 
 
Vision Realized, Mary Estill, 1970
Houstonian, February 22, 1977