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Maclin Hall - West Virginia Institute of Technology

Mystery Building

Mystery Building

Mystery Building

Maclin Hall
This photo, and the two below it, courtesy of Rhod Mills

Maclin Hall

Maclin Hall

Maclin Hall

Maclin Hall

Maclin Hall


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We bought this plate in a set of white plates with brown/sepia topmarks and have always thought they were samples.

Recently, we were contacted by Rhod Mills – a West Virginia state seal china collector – who said he has the same design in black on a Glo-Tan plate but with the addition of the West Virginia state seal (shown at left).

We have now identified the building as Maclin Hall, which was named for Edward S. Maclin, president of what was then the New River State College in 1933 through when it had transitioned to West Virginia Institute of Technology in 1945. It is now (2016) known as WVU Tech.

From the university’s website: “Edward S. Maclin Hall offers students a combination of historical style and modern amenities. Originally built in 1938 [other sources say 1939], the hall’s wings were added in 1953 and the entire building was remodeled and updated in 2007.”

This plate was made in 1946, the year after Maclin left office. The dormitory was built by the Public Works Administration - but it was only later that it was called Maclin Hall. It is likely, therefore, that it was renamed to honor Maclin only after he was no longer president. The grainy newspaper photo below left shows the original structure.

The wings added on each side in 1953 come out from the front at a perpendicular angle. See the next photo. It's easy to see that the two sidewalks leading from the street are the same!

The screenshot from Google Earth in the last photo shows the top of the building and it’s possible to see the original architecture.

Seeing Rhod's photos confirms our thoughts that our brown-on-white plate was a sample and that an order was likely placed for the design on Glo-Tan with the addition of the rust-red and black lines and state seal.

All thanks to Ed Babcock and the other kind researchers at the RWCN for persevering with this ID after we had given up.

 

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