Old North Dorm

According to legend, Rho Sigma was conceived in a "bull session," most likely on the back porch of what was then known simply as Boys' Dormitory, the only men's residence hall on campus in 1934-35. Campus men often gathered on the back porch overlooking the Ouachita River after dinner to smoke and "shoot the bull." It was in one of these "bull sessions" that Rho Sigma was born. The memorial brick wall downstairs in Evans Student Center marks almost the exact spot. A HISTORY OF OLD NORTH Old North was originally a small frame building, the home of the Arkansas Institute for the Blind. The Institute sold the property to the Red River Baptist Academy and moved to Little Rock, where it was renamed Arkansas School for the Blind. After a few years as Red River Baptist Academy, the building had the distinction of being the only building of Ouachita College when it opened September 6, 1886. Named for the river, Ouachita boasted 100 students and 6 faculty members. A new campus building was built in 1889, and the old Institute building was enlarged to become a womens residence known as the Young Ladies Home. However, the Home was completely demolished by fire May, 1890. Through the combined efforts of Ouachita students and faculty, Arkadelphia residents, and even cross-town rival Henderson College, the dormitory was rebuilt by February, 1891 for the then-whopping sum of $20,000. The Conservatory was added to the structure in 1898. The two buildings were connected by a frame porch with an upstairs section. This was later replaced by a brick connection. The Young Ladies Home was 150 feet long by 125 feet wide, with 14 foot halls extending the length of the building. The northwest wing downstairs served as the campus kitchen and dining hall until the summer of 1923 when Daily Hall was built. There was a richly-decorated reception room and double parlors for entertaining downstairs. All rooms were carpeted, a luxury for the time. A grand piano provided entertainment. There were three stairways, at least one of which had marble stairs and mahoghany railings. Rooms varied in size and shape. For example, one room on the second floor featured windows that looked out into the hallway! Or, an unlucky student might find that he or she had the tiny room under the stairs. Each floor shared one washroom, with the downstairs washroom in a small wing at the back of the building. This necessitated braving the weather during the fall and winter months. The upper floor housed an old-fashioned gymnasium, with vaulting horse, indian clubs, rings and medicine balls. This area was sometimes used for astronomy or music instruction, as well. When Cone Bottoms was built in 1923 as the new women's residence hall, the Young Ladies Home was changed into the Boys Dormitory. In 1935, it was the only men's residence hall on campus. By the Fifties, the building had become known as "Old North." It remained a men's dormitory until the late Sixties, when the building was deemed too fragile and dangerous to live in. Plans were put forward to turn Old North into a campus landmark and visitor's center/hostel, but the cost of renovation was too high. Old North was demolished around 1972 to make way for the construction of Evans Student Center. A piece of the rear wall was retained in Evans Student Center. As noted earlier, this wall marks the approximate spot where Rho Sigma is believed to have been conceived.

North Dorm, birthplace of Rho Sigma, had fallen into a state of disrepair by the late Sixties. It was torn down in the early Seventies to make way for Evans Student Center. A wall made of bricks from Old North marks the spot downstairs in the ESC.