Hello again to all you avid Campus Arch followers. Recently I have had to spend some time in the Archives, and let me tell you if you have never gone, you should treat yourself. It is full of old books and photographs dealing with the History of our great University. My first few visits dealt with the Beal Botanical Laboratory. The original one was built in 1880 and tragically (But as you will see, not without warning) burned down in 1890. The original building was located near the Botanical Gardens across from the Music Building. Dr. Beal wrote this in 1880 in his annual report to the Michigan Board of Agriculture. Read the last paragraph carefully, maybe one of our past Presidents was a psychic.
“The building is situated on the west bank of the ravine, near the main drive and northwest of the green-house, to which it will be connected by a foot bridge across the ravine. It is built of wood with a foundation of brick and stone; two stories high, and is modified gothic style, being provided with a rose window and two towers. The extreme height of 66 feet, extreme length north and south 66 feet and extreme width of 46 feet.” (Board of Agriculture 1880)
In his next section Beal details the interior use of all the rooms within the building. The first floor is a large work room, and had cases/drawers. There was a teacher’s desk, and three rows of tables. It must have been beautiful inside on a sunny day because it had high windows that allowed for the Sunlight to fall over all of the floor space. It was outfitted with blackboards on pulley’s a fairly important convenience. There is a study as well on the first floor. Here Beal details the second story and the following quote discusses his apprehension about the building being made entirely of wood.
“The second story is intended, with the exception of a small work-room, exclusively for a museum of vegetable products. The ceiling of this room is nine feet high, ample for good exhibition cases. In the center is an open space in the ceiling 13×30 feet. From the floor through this opening it is 31 feet to the ceiling near the roof. As will be understood, the museum has a gallery all around it. The amount of space in this new museum room is ten times as great as that occupied by the general museum.” (Board of Agriculture 1880)
“Nearly every one who sees the building regrets that it was not built of brick or veneered with brick. This can still be done, and would give the building a more substantial appearance, which is quite desirable. The amount appropriated for the building was $6,000, much to small a sum to make an ample fire proof building.” W.J. Beal. (Board of Agriculture 1880)
As you can see Beal was very aware of the dangers of using this building, but if you look at the pictures (Which I will upload as soon as we have them scanned) you can see the building was truly beautiful. Now in 1890, as the story goes it burned down. Beal again recounts the event in his address to the Michigan Board of Agriculture.
“Late on Sunday Night, March 23, 1890, the Botanical Laboratory took fire somewhere in the upper story in the north-west part of the building, near the large chimney extending from the furnace in the cellar. The night was still and pleasant, and the fire seemed to make slow progress. Many of us believed that the hose from the water works was going to throw water and extinguish the fire, but it failed to do much good, and the building burned down.” (Board of Agriculture 1890
Following the above quote Beal recounts the items saved from the fire; some equipment, books, and plant species from the lower floor. In the passage below he discusses the tragedy in losing the plant specimens in the museum:
“The greatest loss to some extent irreparable, was that of the museum specimens, which have been slowly accumulating, after repeated and urgent solicitation from many sources, a few were purchased, but most of them were hunted don and brought to the college by one who has for the past seventeen years constantly been looking for something interesting and valuable to add to the collection.” (Board of Agriculture 1890)
Beal recounts how he feels that an average person could not have understood the lost. After this he talks about the lasting affect of the Laboratory for the National and International prestige of the University. In the following quote he again discusses how they had expected the building to burn down eventually and take one last shot at Administration:
“Fire sooner or later was to be expected in such a building, and is another warning to colleges, never to trust valuable museums and libraries to a tinder box,” (Board of Agriculture 1890).Following this quote Beal discusses the different recognition the Laboratory/Museum had received.
As you can see Beal was fairly upset with what had happened, and rightfully so. As the quote above indicates the museum and its collection had been the life work of Dr. Beal. His previous statements showed that he had always feared the building could catch fire, and after it did obviously he was bitter.
The Second Botanical Laboratory was built in 1892 and the Cornerstone Ceremony was hailed by many as “The most imposing corner-stone ceremonies ever carried out at the College.” (Beal Pg 272). Beal was sure to have this one made of Brick. It has lasted so long that you would actually know it as Old Botany; you could even walk around it today!
Although the First Botanical Laboratory was a short lived addition to the MSU campus its affect was great. It gave the University more National and International recognition and affected building policy and philosophy in the future. That’s all for this one. Sorry for all quotes but since it was Beal’s Laboratory I felt he should be the one to tell the story. For those of you interested in the other things that Beal said but I cut out of the blog post visit our Wiki page here http://campusarch.wikispaces.com/First+Botanical+Laboratory+1880+-+%3F. There is a Historic Marker located on the actual site. Also here is a link the Archives Flickr page with a picture of the First Botanical Laboratory http://www.flickr.com/photos/msuarchives/4443949092/
- History of the Michigan Agricultural College, Beal. Pg 272
- Michigan Board of Agriculture, Annual Report by W.J. Beal 1880. Pgs 44-46
- Michigan Board of Agriculture, Annual Report by W.J. Beal 1890. Pgs 47-49
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