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On This Spot: A Historical View of Augsburg Through the Years

Banner hanging on side of buildingLooking through windows—and sometimes full-scale building scrims—throughout campus, we see how our landscape, architecture and people have changed in the last 150 years.

Here’s a guide to what you’ll see around campus:

Locations and content for the window clings:
UrnMort Lobby: All-school photo, 1931
Caribou/Einstein’s: Murphy Square, around 1905 (Minnesota Historical Society)
Sverdrup Atrium, left side: Quad and Christensen Center, 1970s
Sverdrup Atrium, right side: Quad and Christensen Center, 1970s
Sverdrup/Library Skyway, closer to Sverdrup: Original Main Building, 1875
Sverdrup/Library Skyway, closer to Library: Foss Center, 1993
OGC Skyway, left side when leaving library: Campus Aerial, 1992
OGC Skyway, right side when leaving library: Campus Aerial, 1975
Music/Memorial Hall Skyway: Morton Hall, around 1920
Anderson Music Atrium, to the right when facing the doors: Choir tour, 1980
Anderson Music Atrium, to the left when facing the doors: Murphy Square, 1970s
Urness Skyway, closest to Christensen Center: Murphy Square and campus, 1920s
Urness Skyway, middle: Murphy Square, 1950s
Urness Skyway, closest to Urness: Murphy Square, about 1970

Locations and content for the building scrims:
Christensen Center facing Murphy Square
Morton Hall: Built in 1888, this duplex was a faculty residence until the early 1920s, when it became a women’s dorm. It was named Morton Hall in 1932, in honor of Augsburg’s Dean of Women, Gerda Mortensen. Demolished in 1959, the façade’s terracotta face was saved and is now in the Christensen Center entrance.

Sverdrup Hall, facing library and Hagfors
Original Main: Augsburg’s original main building in Minneapolis opened September 15, 1872. Within three years, it was expanded to include a large central section and a smaller wing (identical to this one) at the east end. At first, everything happened in this building: classes, chapel, library, dining, and residence space for students, faculty, and their families. After Old Main opened in 1902, this building became a student residence and dining hall. This oldest section was demolished in 1948 to make room for the Science Hall, and the rest of the building came down in 1949 to create space for Sverdrup Library.