After Main Building burned in 1903, the university rebuilt.
Mot h er Nat u r e Com et h: Nat u r a l Disa st er St r ik e s t h e Hil ltop On Holy Thursday 1903, around dinnertime, Main Building caught fire. Despite 20 fire extinguishers and the quick arrival of the South Austin Hose Company, the building burned down to its foundations, destroyed by flames and smoke visible from 20 miles away. Damages totaled $170,000, including a library of 3,000 books. Insurance covered only $33,000. “But there was a bright side,” writes Brother William Dunn, CSC, in his history of St. Edward’s. “Everyone was alive. St. Edward’s, though staggered, was not destroyed.” As the building smoldered, university leaders found a place to board students for the night. They went home to their families the following day. The school year was over. Just three days later, architect Nicholas Clayton arrived to oversee reconstruction. He also drew up plans for a new building — Holy Cross Hall — to be built next to Main. By June, 120 men were laying stone and building walls. By September, they had completed both buildings, which featured state-of-the-art fireproofing, electric wiring and indoor plumbing, not to mention “the fine chapel with its rose window, on the east wing,” writes Dunn. Such swift and decisive reconstruction was crucial because “buildings like Main were symbols of the church’s intentions to be around awhile,” says Daly. Plus, Holy Cross had been there before, when Notre Dame’s Main Building burned down in 1879. Of all the
disasters that could have befallen the university, “Holy Cross knew fires,” he says. St. Edward’s, with 217 students the fall that Main reopened, was “rising from its ashes larger and more magnificent than ever,” according to one local paper. But Mother Nature struck another blow in 1922, when a tornado barreled through campus, ripping the top two floors off Holy Cross Hall and obliterating the gym, indoor pool and steam plant. Main Building also had a “great hole” in its south-facing wall. Again, university leaders responded quickly. Eight days after the tornado, they issued a report to their superiors assessing the damage and outlining a plan for reconstruction. Insurance, again, would be almost nil. Thanks to donation drives that drew support from private citizens, churches, civic organizations and students’ families, along with a bank loan, repairs began in June and wrapped up in The university asked its community January. Students didn’t miss for assistance after a plague of natural disasters hit campus. a day of class. 15