Regardless of your major or where you had classes, if you attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison you will certainly remember Science Hall. Sitting on Park Street at the end of Langdon Street, this grand old building proudly represents the time in which advances in modern science really began to expand their reach into the world.
The original Science Hall was a wooden structure that burned down in 1884. According to the Department of Geography’s History of Science Hall, the rebuilt Science Hall was completed in 1887 and “was one of the first, if not the very first, buildings in the country to be constructed of all masonry and metal materials (wood was used only in window and door frames and for some floors), and may be the only one still extant.”
Science Hall was certainly an appropriate name since it was originally the home of science-related programs like geology, anatomy, geography, physiology, zoology, botany, physics, engineering, meteorology, and agriculture. If that wasn’t enough, it is even said to be haunted!
Recently, alumni and philanthropists John and Tashia Morgridge have committed $85.2 million for the renovation of Science Hall. Work will begin in 2027 to restore the exterior, create new gathering space and modernize its interior to support learning and research. I visited this landmark to tour and capture some memories.
Science Hall was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. The sign marking its status can be seen on the wall between the two staircases that lead up to the arched entrance. As you walk up to that entrance, it is difficult to see and appreciate the stained-glass window that is installed above it. When you enter and reach the first-floor landing, however, you can look back and see the colorful and symmetrical patterns.
On the first-floor landing you face a new-looking elevator. To the right is the hallway leading to the Geography Department and to the left is the hallway leading to the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. The floors are covered with interesting patterns of tile — this is not linoleum. If you look closely at the bottom of the first and third pictures below, you can see that the pattern of tiles in the side hallways changes when they cross over into the central hallway.
Though it looks new now, I recall that when I was a student (Class of 1970) the elevator was an old fashioned “birdcage” elevator where you could look out through the metal grating as the elevator moved between floors. You’ve probably seen those in old movies. The “cage” from the old Science Hall elevator can still be seen surrounding the new elevator shaft. The intricate iron handrails on the staircases surrounding three sides of the elevator are veritable works of art.
By the way, I never got around to taking that elevator. Who hasn’t seen the inside of a new elevator? I wandered up the steps so that I wouldn’t miss anything interesting. Every floor seems different. If you take the time to look down you should notice that the pattern of the tiles changes. If you take the time to lean over the railing, you should be able to see the stairs below and you may find out if leaning over a railing like that bothers you. The large square columns in front of the elevator change from white to yellow and are topped with decorative capitals.
The walls seem to age as you ascend and the bricks along the staircase on higher floors are covered with graffiti, mostly signatures. The doors and hallways in the higher floors have sort of a “mad scientist” feel to them. Since only the first three floors occupy the entire building, the upper floors have small windows looking out over the roof. On the roof I noticed a “Strobic Air High-Performance Laboratory Exhaust System.” I doubt that was installed in 1887. The nicest views were from the larger windows in the front of the building. My favorite looked down Langdon Street where the State Capitol Building could be seen in the distance.
Back down in the main lecture hall, Science Hall 180, you can see how the old desks discriminated against the non-right handed people like me. I don’t know how I would have taken notes if I had a class in there! Since there was no air conditioning, fans were available to move warm air around and the windows could be opened to let in more warm air. When closing them, people were reminded to “CLOSE STORM WINDOWS FIRST.” In a few of the rooms I assumed that some of the pipes running up the walls were conduits for electrical wiring that could not be placed in the masonry and metal walls. One room seemed much too large to simply hold tables and chairs. I wondered if it had been a laboratory at some time. The books in that room were all from The United States Department of Agriculture and covered topics like “Crops in Peace and War” and “Plant Diseases.”
Although the photos shown above will give you some feeling for what the interior of Science Hall looks like today, they only represent a part of the building. The long side hallways on the first three floors usually led to offices and other rooms with closed doors. The upper two floors had no long hallways out to each side; they were only located in the center of the building. So, most of the images are from the middle third of the building. Since the interior will be “modernized,” many of these elements may soon be gone.
Walking out the back door takes you to a small parking lot, Lot 9, shared by Science Hall and Radio Hall. In that lot you get a great view of what appear to be turrets or towers that might belong on a Disneyland castle. However, they are not actually towers, they are simply semi-circular structures added to the corners of the building. Parts of the back walls are covered in ivy. There were only a few leaves so maybe most have died. When the exterior is restored I suspect there will no longer be any ivy.
The brickwork on the outer walls of Science Hall has some decorative elements that I never really paid attention to when I was a student. Although my vision isn’t as good now as it was then, my awareness is significantly better. These elements are quite nice and really add to what otherwise would have been very boring walls. When work begins in 2027 you may still be able to enjoy some of the exterior views.
Now that you’ve seen what Science Hall looks like in 2026, here are some much older views of this historic building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The image on the left is from University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Search. No date is given. The caption reads “Trees line Langdon Street as it ends into the front steps of Science Hall.”
The image on the right is from the 1893 Wisconsin Blue Book. The only caption is “Science Hall.”