Architect: Office of Horace Trumbauer
Completed: 1926
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John Wesley Alspaugh (1831-1912) earned an undergraduate degree from Trinity College (then located in Randolph County, N.C.) in 1855. Alspaugh was a lawyer, newspaper editor, chief clerk of the State Senate, first mayor of Winston Salem, and established the National Bank of Winston. He became a Trinity College Trustee in 1869, chairing the Board of Trustees from 1880 to 1897. He is widely credited with the successful management of the nearly-bankrupt Trinity College during the late 1870s and 1880s, particularly during his service as a member of the Committee of Management, which ran the school from 1884 to 1887. Through a combination of personal contributions and energetic fund-raising, the committee saved the college from closing its doors for lack of funds.
Alspaugh Residence Hall was the second building in Duke University's history to be named after Colonel John W. Alspaugh. It was completed in the fall of 1926 and originally referred to as Dormitory No. 2. Alspaugh, Bassett, Brown, Giles, and Pegram dormitories were all completed in a two year period between the fall of 1926 and the fall of 1928, and are all minor variations on the same design. The building was renamed in honor of Colonel Alspaugh in 1930, after the original Alspaugh Building (built in 1902) was relocated to Kittrell College in Kittrell, North Carolina.
For Further Research:
- Alspaugh Residence Hall Records: Records created as part of day-to-day operations.
- Biographical Reference Collection: Contains biographical information on Alspaugh.
- Building Reference Collection: Contains historical building information.
