Completed in 1828, Old College was the first building on the Hill, built at a cost of $13,000. Its design was advanced by John Mason, whose great granddaughter, Mary Fleming Meek, wrote the UT “Alma Mater.” The builder was Thomas Crutchfield. It was a two-story, 10-room building, 65 feet by 50 feet, topped by a hip roof with dormer windows, an observatory, and a belfry. A bell in the tower tolled the hours for rising, class changes, and lights out. The structure of Greek Revival design was finished in 1828.
When built, it was highly criticized as too ornate by some citizens, and as a “monument of folly.” Brick for the college building cost $13 a thousand, so said critics, while equally as good could be bought, they contended, for $5 a thousand. In 1829 John Gunn, a candidate for the state legislature, likened the steeple to the Tower of Babel—“as it raises its glittering spire as if supplicating the Author of all good to forgive its projectors for such foolish extravagance.” It was said that Indians would come from all parts of East Tennessee to see the copper dome that was part of the original roof of the building.
The building sustained substantial damage during the Civil War, and although the damage was repaired (the copper dome was not replaced), as early as 1880 the board of trustees’ Buildings and Grounds Committee suggested it be razed and replaced. It was renovated in 1909. It was razed in 1919 to make room for Ayres Hall (as were East College and West College).
A number of alumni were opposed to razing Old College, and the trustees agreed that Old College could be moved and preserved if the Alumni Association could raise $15,000 for the purpose. Finally, the trustees voted $9,000 to finance the moving of the building but instructed the alumni that they would have to repay the costs. The location to which it was to be moved would have placed it approximately where Hesler Biology Building is located today. The Building Committee of the board of trustees met with the contractors who had suggested moving the building. After examining the building carefully, the contractors were not willing to undertake moving it without damage, so it was razed. The board of trustees declared that Old College would be memorialized by placing a picture of it in all the buildings on the Hill.