Whether it’s where fans celebrate football victories, students gather with friends or graduates take their cap and gown photos, there are buildings and spaces that store the most cherished memories on NC State’s campus.
These landmarks are known as NC State’s Hallowed Places.
Tim Peeler, an unofficial NC State historian and public communications specialist at University Communications and Marketing, said a hallowed place is a building or public space that has acquired a special meaning from generations of NC State students, alumni, faculty and staff.
“It’s just a place that has accrued meaning,” Peeler said. “We couldn’t have planned out part of the campus and said, ‘Alright, this is going to be a Hallowed Place.’ It is a place where people have gathered in, where people are accustomed to going.”
Peeler took Technician on a tour of the seven Hallowed Places on main campus. Here’s a look into the tour.
Holladay Hall
Holladay Hall, known as “Main Building” until 1915, is the oldest building on campus. Built in 1889, it opened its doors in time for the first freshman class of the same year.
“This was the entirety of the college,” Peeler said. “There were two major courses of study: agricultural and mechanics. … Everyone who worked at the school worked here and lived here.”
It’s also considered haunted by many of its past students, since months before its opening, the building burned.
“At the time, the people in the Board of Trustees thought that they needed to do something to get rid of the spirits that were here, because when they first built this building, they had to move about a dozen graves that were here,” Peeler said. “This building was built on top of that, so sometimes late at night, people would hear noises.”
Mary Yarbrough Court
In her childhood, Mary Yarbrough dreamt of attending NC State at a time when it wasn’t a reality for her.
“She used to play here in this area all the time, and she wanted nothing more in her life than to go to NC State,” Peeler said. “[When she was] ready to go to State, NC State was not admitting women. So her dream was crushed that she could not come to school.”
She went to Meredith College for her undergraduate degree, and during that time, NC State started developing graduate classes for women.
“She was one of the first female graduate students at NC State, and then she became the first woman to receive a graduate degree at NC State.” Peeler said.
She went on to receive a Ph.D. from Duke University and started a career in education. When she retired, Yarborough’s close friends on campus mentioned the idea of honoring her for paving the way for women’s education at the University.
“They said, ‘We would love to honor her, and all she has given to the state, given to the University, given to education in general, we would love to name this area in her honor,’” Peeler said.
Memorial Bell Tower
The Memorial Bell Tower’s start to becoming a Hallowed Place began on the football field.
Star athlete pair Frank Thompson and Vance Sykes had a great relationship on and off the field. When Thompson later died in combat in World War I, Sykes decided the school should do something to remember those who passed and proceeded to give money to fund the Bell Tower.
The Bell Tower was built up periodically, with construction beginning in 1920 and finishing in 1930. Several graduating classes from a variety of years chipped in to create the finished product.
“This is a hallowed place, but it’s really a sacred place,” Peeler said. “That’s where NC State remembers students and staff in that time. … There were 350 students who died in World War II, there were students who died in Korea, and in Vietnam, and in the Gulf. We have given a lot as a campus, and this is a small thing to show our appreciation for what those folks did.”
Brickyard and Court of North Carolina
The Brickyard and the Court of North Carolina are two well-known open spaces around campus, and they serve as a pathway for students to get to their classes. The difference is that one is filled with bricks — around 450,000 — and the other one is a green area that offers a space for students to unwind and relax.
Free Expression Tunnel
Hated by faculty and loved by students, the Free Expression Tunnel originated when students littered campus concrete with graffiti throughout the ‘60s and administration struck a deal with students.
“In 1967, the administration said, ‘Look, we’ll make a deal with you. We will give you the campus bookstore tunnel … as long as you don’t paint anywhere else on campus,’” Peeler said.
The tunnel was a progressive act, as this was a time college campuses experienced strong censorship.
“No one affiliated with the Communist Party, with the Socialist Party … you could not have [these] speakers come here and talk,” Peeler said. “Students rebelled against that, and they wanted a place where they could say whatever they wanted to say.”
Peeler said the Free Expression Tunnel is unique to NC State.
“There’s no other place like this on a college campus in the country that is specifically designed to put whatever you want [on it],” Peeler said.
Reynolds Coliseum
It all started with agriculture. NC State needed an indoor gathering place to host Agriculture Week, but that gathering space soon turned into a basketball court.
“World War II happened, so for seven years there was no construction,” Peeler said. “We hired a basketball coach; he won a conference championship; … he wanted this to be done. They used to play in downtown Raleigh.”
Peeler said in order to build the basketball court, William C. Carmichael, representing the University, asked the “richest woman in the world,” for support. Mary Reynolds Babcock said yes.
“She did not have an affiliation with NC State,” Peeler said. “She was willing, even though she didn’t have an affiliation, but she said, ‘I will do it under one circumstance.’”
That circumstance was to name it after William Neal Reynolds, her uncle and CFO of the Reynolds Tobacco Company.
Throughout the years, Reynolds became more than just a basketball stadium. Class registration, ROTC courses, political figures and big name bands flocked to the stadium.
“The Rolling Stones played here,” Peeler said. “Bob Dylan played here. When I was at school, Van Halen [played here].”
Aside from these cherished places, there are three more Hallowed Spaces outside main campus — College of Veterinary Medicine Pastures, Lake Raleigh Woods and the Oval.
“Starting at the Bell Tower [and] Holladay Hall, if you draw a straight line, it will bisect the Oval on Centennial Campus,” Peeler said. “It was designed to be that way when they put the Oval in [Centennial]. They wanted it to point directly back to the origins of the University.”
Though sometimes unseen or forgotten in the midst of the quick pace of college life, these buildings and spaces will remain University landmarks for generations to come.
