Mantor Library, University of Maine Farmington

During Farmington State Normal School's first fifty years, students had to make their own arrangements for living accommodations. Those who did not live in or near Farmington often boarded with local families willing to provide a room and meals for a fee. Occasionally students might rent a house together, which also entailed finding a housemother to manage the home and enforce school regulations.

Purington Hall

The college’s first dormitory, Purington Hall, was completed in 1914. It offered housing and meals for women students for a reasonable fee. The men still had to board locally. By the 1930s, freshmen men could pay weekly to eat meals in the Purington dining room.

The Lodge

The Lodge was acquired by the school in 1921. Located on Academy Street, it offered a “more homelike atmosphere” for up to 20 students in the Home Economics program each term.

Mrs. Jane Kendrick was The Lodge housemother from 1926 to 1937. She was the aunt of Errol Dearborn's wife (Mr. Dearborn was a mathematics professor at the Normal School at the time). Much loved by Lodge residents, Mrs. Kendrick managed the house and offered motherly support to her students. She also created a garden, which included hollyhocks (her favorite flower), with assistance from some of the students.

The Lodge became housing for male students in 1933, due to a growing number of men enrolled at the college. It remained the only campus housing option for men until the Kappa fraternity house opened in 1937. Once Kappa House opened, The Lodge briefly returned to housing women before permanently closing in January 1939.

The Willows

Increased enrollment led the college to acquire The Willows in 1923. It had been a private school for girls, then was refurbished and functioned briefly as a hotel before being unoccupied for many years. The college renovated it to accommodate up to 75 women and it became another popular alternative to Purington Hall. The Willows closed in the late 1930s.

South Hall / Mallet Hall

The second Normal School dormitory, South Hall, was completed in 1924. It also housed only women for many years. In the 1930s, upperclass men were able to pay for meals in the South dining room. The dormitory was renamed in honor of Principal Wilbert G. Mallett when he retired in 1940.

Palmer Hall

In 1929, a house on South Street as acquired. Formerly used as a hospital, it became a dormitory for junior and senior women in the Home Economics program. It was called Palmer Hall in honor of Mary Palmer, a member of the Home Economics faculty from 1924 - 1929. It remained in use until it was torn down to make way for the college library in the 1950s.

Kappa House

The Normal School's chapter of Kappa Delta Phi fraternity purchased the old Abbott School building in 1937, using funds loaned by Assistant Principal Errol Dearborn. The building was repaired and renovated to provide housing for 50 men.

With most of the men away serving in the military during World War II, Kappa House was forced to close for two years. It reopened in late 1945 and continued to house Kappa men until 1961.

Dearborn Hall / Franklin Hall

In 1950, the college acquired the building on the corner of South and Main Streets. It was renovated to serve as a dormitory for 50 students and dedicated as Dearborn Hall on October 14, 1950. Originally only women in their final year at the college could reside in the dormitory, so it was often referred to as Senior Hall. Once additional dormitories were built in the 1960s, the building transitioned to administrative use. It was officially renamed Franklin Hall in 1970.

Sources: Effesseness, 1922-1939; Farmington Mirror, January 19, 1939; Farmington State Teachers College, Biennial Catalogue, 1952/1954; Farmington State Teachers College Handbooks, 1935 - 1968; University of Maine at Farmington: A Study in Educational Change (1864-1974), Richard P. Mallett, © 1974.