on Bascom Hill which was sold to New York Congressman Aaron Vanderpoel in 1838 for $1.25 an acre. In 1848 when the new State of Wisconsin created the university, the state bought the land from Vanderpoel for $15 an acre. A general plan for the physical university was in place by 1850, with a "Main Edifice" sketched in where Bascom Hall now sits at the top of the hill and a broad open space running east down the hill toward the capitol, with a "North Dorm" and a "South Dorm" on each side and two similar dorms drawn below. That general configuration was apparently laid out by Milwaukee architect John F. Rague, and major elements remain to this day. But in 1850 it was still only a plan on paper - nothing had been built. Buildings The following buildings are listed in the order built. All are contributing properties to the NRHP's Bascom Hill Historic District unless otherwise noted. North Hall (1851) North Hall was the university's first building, constructed where "North Dorm" had been drawn in the general plan, at mid-right in the 1885 engraving. It was designed by John Rague in Federal style, a rather plain, sober architectural style popular before the Civil War. It stands four stories, clad in Madison sandstone - rather similar to dorms of the day at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Construction cost $19,000, and it opened in September 1851. For the first four years it was the only building on campus, so as well as living accommodations for 50 to 65 students, it contained lecture rooms, labs, a library and a chapel. It offered a mess where students could eat for eighty cents per week. Running water was not piped to the dorm floors, so residents had to carry their own water from a well nearby. The building had hot-air central heating from two furnaces, but when fuel became scarce during the Civil War, a stove was put in each room and residents had to procure their own fuel, often cutting trees nearby in what would become Muir Woods. In 1966 the building by itself was named a National Historic Landmark. South Hall (1855) South Hall followed four years later, located where "South Dorm" had been drawn in the general plan, at mid-left in the 1885 engraving. On the outside it was a twin of North Hall, also designed by John Rague. Inside, the