Stop 2 of 6
Minor Hall
Law on the Lawn?
Audio guide — Stop 2: Minor Hall (2:51)
The narration follows the text and image descriptions on this page.
After the 1895 Rotunda fire, the University weighed for the first time whether the Law School should remain on the Lawn or stand apart from it. Noted architectural firm McKim, Mead & White enclosed the Lawn’s south end with Cabell, Rouss, and Cocke Halls. They proposed filling the remaining Lawn spaces with two buildings, marked with X’s on this drawing. One of these freestanding buildings was intended for the Law School.
This proposal ran counter to law’s growing professionalization. Minor Hall was ultimately constructed outside the Lawn in 1911, shown in the panorama below, giving physical form to the Law School’s separation from other University departments. Law was increasingly a graduate discipline and a specialized field, particularly with new standardization from the nascent American Bar Association. Law students leaving Minor could glimpse the Lawn down nearby pathways, but they were now distinct from that liberal arts world.
Proposed plan of the University of Virginia by McKim, Mead & White, circa 1897, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, UVA.
Image description
A site plan of the University viewed from above. Buildings appear as blocks arranged around the Lawn, with pathways and landscaped areas connecting them. Two large X marks, at the lower end of the Lawn, identify proposed future buildings. One indicates a possible location for a new law school building on the Lawn. The drawing presents the University as a carefully organized composition of structures, arranged around the central Lawn.
In the proposed site plan, notice:
- An X marks the spot of the proposed Law School building. This new building, on either the east or west side of the Lawn, would have extended the Lawn’s traditional pavilion model.
- The proposed law building completed the enclosure of the UVA Lawn. Instead, the University left this space open and created a walkway linking the Lawn to Minor Hall, a hallmark of Beaux-Arts architecture.
- The University ultimately built the new law building beyond the scope of this map. UVA selected this site in hopes that it would launch the University’s expansion beyond the Lawn.
What was built
Panorama of the University of Virginia by Rufus Holsinger, 1911, Library of Congress.
Image description
A panoramic photograph of the University taken in 1911 from an elevated perspective looking up the Lawn to the Rotunda. The surrounding landscape extends toward wooded hills in the distance. Minor Hall appears at the far left, beyond the Lawn, emphasizing the Law School’s move away from Jefferson’s original academic village.