Davidson Hall, Coker College

National Register Listing

Street Address:

College Ave., Hartsville, SC (Darlington County)

Alternate Name:

Administration Building, Coker College

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817716007

Description and Narrative:

Davidson Hall, located on the campus of Coker College, was constructed ca. 1909-1910, with funds donated by the college’s founder, Major James Lide Coker. Major Coker, noted Hartsville industrialist, merchant, banker and agriculturalist, founded Coker College to provide quality education for women and to extend cultural opportunities to the Pee Dee region. Davidson Hall is significant for its association with Major Coker’s philanthropy and it is important in the history of education in the Pee Dee. It was the first building constructed for Coker College and it became the symbol of the school; its façade is incorporated into the college seal. Designed by the prominent South Carolina firm of Wilson, Sompayrac, and Urquhart, the two-story, brick educational building is enhanced by Neo-Classical details and stands out as one of Hartsville’s finest buildings. The hall is a rectangular plan brick building laid in common bond. It has a hip roof and a projecting semicircular auditorium on the rear elevation. The central portion of the fifteen bay façade features a projecting, two-story, pedimented portico, which is supported by six stuccoed Ionic columns with scamozzi capitals. A cornice embellished with dentil molding encircles the entire building. Listed in the National Register November 10, 1983.

Period of Significance:

circa 1909 – 1910;1910;20th century

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Education;Architecture;Social History

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

November 10 1983

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