Teachers College (Old)

Teachers College was formally established in 1908, with a laboratory high school in the Temple building and coursework centered in University Hall. Enrollment increased rapidly. Due to changes in teacher certification statewide that required teachers to be certified by the University or one of the normal schools, those wishing to teach in the public schools needed a college education. By the time the formal plan for campus expansion was developed in 1914, the Teachers College was in need of its own facility.

Teachers College, as the building was called, was constructed to house the relatively new Teachers College. Located at the east edge of the newly expanded campus, it was far removed from student activity in 1919. Social Sciences Hall (CBA), also under construction, was on the west edge of the expansion area, abutting the original campus. Andrews Hall would not be built for another decade; the Union, two decades. Other new buildings, the Chemistry Laboratory (Avery) and Bessey Hall, lay to the northwest. Coolidge & Hodgdon, designers of the campus plan, intended to locate a large monumental structure at the head of 13th street at R, utilizing the site between Social Sciences Hall and Teachers College for an auditorium or library. Since the Teachers College building was not planned to be large or monumental structure, it was sited to the east. The plan also called for a large and monumental structure to the immediate north of Teachers College, at the eastern head of the central mall, but such a structure was never erected.

Teachers College is constructed of red pressed brick with Bedford limestone trim. Prior to the construction and attachment of the Administration building on the south side of Teachers College, there was a three story Palladian window which illuminated the central stairwell. Unfortunately the 1957 Administration building was joined to the Teachers College building at the stairwell, necessitating the alteration of the south wall and removal of its lovely window.

Eventually the Teachers College High School was moved into the building from the Temple basement. In 1955, when the new University High School (Henzlik) was opened, the building was converted to use by the Teachers College for faculty offices and classrooms. It was absorbed for use by University administration in the 1990s and renamed Canfield Administration Building North.