Jefferson Hall, Constructed 1920-1921

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Jefferson Hall, constructed between 1920 and 1921, was built as a women’s dormitory and today houses co-ed undergraduate upperclassman located on Old Campus. The dorm is named for Thomas Jefferson, class of 1762.

The dormitory opened in September 1921 and contained a gymnasium, pool, parlors and apartments for the director of women and for female teachers and rooms for 125 female students. The gymnasium was used for functions such as dances and basketball games and was available to both men and women from 1922 to 1925 while Blow Hall was being built. The iron gates from the Capitol Building in Richmond, erected in front of Jefferson Hall facing Jamestown Road, were given by the D.A.R. as a memorial to Kate Waller Barrett and dedicated on April 30, 1926.

The first African-American co-eds in residence at William & Mary lived in the basement of Jefferson Hall in 1965. Jefferson Hall underwent renovations in the late 1970s to add more dorm rooms and was destroyed by fire on January 20, 1983, but the outer walls remained standing. The residence hall officially reopened on January 27, 1985, and was fully occupied by undergraduate students.