Two structures have been designated as Sophronia Strong Hall. The first was purchased from the estate of Daniel Briscoe in 1920 with a portion of Benjamin Rush Strong’s 1915 bequest requiring the building of a women’s dormitory that would bear the name of his mother. This property was the elegant 1879 mansion built by James Cowan. The mansion occupied the west end of the estate, which was purchased for $61,000. The house was used as a women’s dormitory. It was damaged by fire on November 14, 1921—three rooms were extensively damaged, and the rest of the residence hall was damaged by water and smoke. The damage was repaired in order for the students to move in for the spring term.
The Cowan/Briscoe house was used as a women’s dormitory until Sophronia Strong Hall and the University Cafeteria were opened in 1925, after which it provided “reception rooms” and residence living for sororities until fire and safety concerns caused the university to require the sororities to vacate the building in 1939. The building then housed the archaeology laboratories and two museum rooms. The Cowan/Briscoe residence was called variously Sophronia Strong Hall and Sophronia Strong Hall West, in anticipation of the building of the new residence hall with funds from the Benjamin Rush Strong bequest.
The Cowan/Briscoe mansion was razed in 1954, but the gardener’s cottage, at the east end of the property, remained. Clement Hall now occupies the site.