On October 27, 1895 an event took place that came to be known as The Great Fire
This coming October will be the 111th year anniversary of this tragic fire that destroyed the centerpiece of the University of Virginia.
The Rotunda was built in a span of 4 years, from 1822 to 1826. The estimated cost was around $60,000. I wonder what it's worth today, and what it's worth would have been if not destroyed by the fire? Something to think about I guess.
Jefferson, who was known as the Father and builder of the University, was born at Shadwell, in what is now Albemarle County, VA., on April 13, 1743. Unfortunately, Mr Jefferson died on July4,1826 before the completion of the structure.
Sixty nine years later, this expression of love to the people of Virginia as well as to the campus itself would burn, leaving only a brick shell and several lonely pillars. As you all know, it has been rebuilt since then.
University students saved what was, for them the most important item within the Rotunda - a life-size likeness of Mr. Jefferson carved from marble that was given to the University by Alexander Galt in 1861. The Rotunda was rebuilt, but with a modified design by Stanford White, a nationally known architect and head of a firm in New York City.
Whereas Jefferson's Rotunda had three floors, White's had only two, but a larger Dome Room.
In 1976 during America's Bicentennial, the Rotunda was restored, at a cost of $2.4 million, to Jefferson's original design. The Rotunda is the symbolic head of the Lawn and the University of Virginia. The Academical Village of which it is a part is one of only four man-made American sites to be named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(along with the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, and Pueblo de Taos
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