Founded in 1864 as the Colorado Seminary by territorial governor John Evans, DU is Colorado's oldest institution of higher education. University Hall ( DV211.1: 1890, Robert S. Roeschlaub), 2199 South University Boulevard, is robustly symmetrical, with stone porch entrances nestled into the junctures of gabled bays and circular stair towers whose function is expressed by staggered windows that climb with the stairs inside. Various steep-pitched roofs culminate in a central bell tower with an octagonal cap and flagpole. Red sandstone is used for the trim as well as the skin of this formal yet friendly hall.
Across the circular campus entry drive, Iliff School of Theology ( DV211.2; 1892, Fuller and Wheeler), 2201 South University Boulevard, has an arcade of eight Gothic windows above the pointed-arched entry of polished stone. This ornate and detailed entry bay dresses up the plainer polygonal wings of a four-story edifice of rough-faced stone with Richardsonian aspirations, complemented by a contemporary addition.
When fire destroyed the Buchtel Memorial Chapel ( DV211.3; 1917, Thomas Barber), its ruins were left as a striking sculptural piece. The central water gardens (1967, Garrett Eckbo) and Evans Memorial Chapel ( DV211.4; 1874) lend serenity to the campus core. The brown sandstone Gothic Revival Evans chapel is the original part of what later became the larger Grace Methodist Church. It was moved to DU in 1960 when the church, with its later additions, was dismantled. Mary Reed Library ( DV211.5; 1932, Harry James Manning) is the Collegiate Gothic anchor of the campus, with a west side terrace and a “peak finder” guide to the Front Range, which shimmers in the distance. Its bulwark, 14,264-foot Mt. Evans, was renamed upon his death in 1897 for DU's founder.