{"id":724652,"date":"2026-10-29T18:27:46","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=724652"},"modified":"2026-10-29T18:27:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:27:46","slug":"review-fall-2026-ask-the-archivist-taylor-hall-history-724652","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-fall-2026-ask-the-archivist-taylor-hall-history-724652\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the history of Taylor Hall?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A question for Melissa Mead, the John M. and Barbara Keil University Archivist and Rochester Collections Librarian.<\/b><\/h2>\n

My office is in Taylor Hall<\/a>, which hosts an odd assortment of student services. In addition to Title IX, it\u2019s home to the Office of Disability Resources and a machine shop. I\u2019ve also heard it\u2019s the only single-story building left on campus. Do you know if that\u2019s the case? What\u2019s the story behind this little outlier of a building?\u00a0<\/em>
\n\u2014Mace McDonald, sexual misconduct prevention education specialist, Title IX Office<\/p>\n

\n

Opened in 1935 as the Services Building, this 144-by-81-foot structure centralized the staff and equipment of the facilities department, then led by General Superintendent Clarence Livingston.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot
A LASTING LEGACY:<\/strong> Taylor Hall was named for Earl Burt Taylor (Class of 1912 and 1913 (MA)), who helped establish the University School of Liberal and Applied Studies. (University Libraries \/ Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an article in the Campus<\/em> student newspaper, \u201cA staff of 183 \u2026 do almost every type of work imaginable\u2014from welding to bird-catching.\u201d Across four campuses\u2014the River Campus, Eastman School, Medical Center, and Prince Street\u2014those duties covered more than one million square feet: four miles of corridors, 6,000 doors, 8,000 windows, 9,000 lightbulbs, 45.5 acres of floors, and upwards of 100 acres of grounds. Livingston\u2019s \u201cAnalysis of Functions for the Buildings and Grounds Department\u201d binder, which sat on his desk and listed each staff member\u2019s duties, is preserved in the University Archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When the colleges for men and women were unified on the River Campus in 1955, offices and divisions on the Prince Street Campus also moved. This included the University School of Liberal and Applied Studies, which served nontraditional students seeking degrees or additional training in general studies, business administration, education, and nursing.<\/p>\n

The facilities department moved across Elmwood to what is now the Health Sciences Campus, and, in 1956, the University School took up residence. The building was named for Earl Burt Taylor (Class of 1912 and 1913 (MA)), \u201cthe man who largely founded that division of the University as a development of the former Division of University Extension,\u201d according to a 1955 Rochester Review<\/em><\/a>. The University School gained a roommate in March, when the new Computing Center joined it.<\/p>\n

With the 1958 launch of the graduate schools of education, business, and engineering, the University School stopped managing evening programs for those students. Its offices moved to Wallis Hall, and in 1961 the College of Education, now the Warner School of Education & Human Development<\/a>, took its place at Taylor. Meanwhile, the Computing Center expanded and became the primary resident until 2014.<\/p>\n

\"Professor
MAKING THE CUT:<\/strong> The area that originally served as the facilities machine shop resumed that role in 2005. Today, the Taylor Hall Shop is one of 20 design studios, fabrication labs, machine shops, and collaborative spaces available to arts, sciences, and engineering students. (URochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The area that originally served as the facilities machine shop returned to that purpose in 2005. The Taylor Hall Shop<\/a> is one of 20 design studios, fabrication labs, machine shops, and collaborative spaces available to arts, sciences, and engineering students.<\/p>\n

Taylor Hall\u2014nicknamed \u201cthe Skyscraper\u201d by University School students\u2014is not the only one-story building on campus: The nearby New York State Center for Advanced Technology (Center for Innovative and Emerging Sciences)<\/a> is similarly compact.<\/p>\n

Although Taylor Hall outlasted the University School, its occupants still enter past the bronze plaque honoring Taylor\u2019s \u201ccandor, courage, and humor\u201d and crediting him with \u201c[winning] by wisdom and good will the high regard of the community, the confidence of \u2026 colleagues, and the devotion of close associates.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Mead discusses the history of Taylor Hall on the River Campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1292,"featured_media":724732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41112],"tags":[13992,42272],"class_list":["post-724652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-magazine","tag-rochester-review","tag-university-libraries"],"acf":{"external":"","hide_featured_image":false,"related":"show_related","style":"","content_modules":[{"acf_fc_layout":"card_grid","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-0","title":"","description":"","background_color":"#FFFFFF","width":"width-medium","columns":"1","cards":[{"card_title":"

Need history?<\/h5>","card_text":"Do you have a question about URochester history? Send us an email! Please put \u201cAsk the Archivist\u201d in the subject line.\r\n

Get in touch<\/p>","card_background_color":"#00205b","card_hover_color":"#283faf","card_link":{"title":"","url":"mailto:rochrev@rochester.edu","target":""},"card_hover_arrow":"","card_image":606762,"card_image_size":"image_thumbnail","card_image_placement":"image_left","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"pt-0","title":"","content":"

\r\n\r\nThis story appears in the fall 2026 issue of <\/em>Rochester Review<\/a>, the magazine of the University of Rochester<\/a>.<\/em>","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"}]},"yoast_head":"\nAsk the archivist: What\u2019s the history of Taylor Hall?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"University of Rochester archivist Melissa Mead discusses the history of Taylor Hall on URochester's River Campus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-fall-2026-ask-the-archivist-taylor-hall-history-724652\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the history of Taylor Hall?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Rochester archivist Melissa Mead 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