Irvin Hall
Irvin Hall was the first permanent building at Highland University in Highland, Kansas. It is the oldest building in Kansas still used for higher education. Planning The Highland Town Company offered to give the university forty-eight additional lots and a sum of $1,200 if the board of trustees would construct a building within a three-year time span at a cost of greater than or equal value of $6,000. Samuel Irvin's plan was for the university to sell the lots at $100 per lot to get $4,800 in addition to the $1,200 provided by the company to cover the cost of the building. The building committee designed an enormous structure of four stories in the center and three stories on the wings of the building. The planned structure was to be 180 feet by 40 feet. The Bricks of the building were sourced from the old gates farm just north of highland and lumber was sourced from St. Joseph, Missouri and Doniphan, Kansas. Groundbreaking The Corner Stone for Irvin Hall was laid on May 11, 1858, accompanied by speeches by local leaders. One of Highland University's founders Samuel Irvin said at the laying of the cornerstone that only a few years