Voorhees Mall is a large grassy area with stately shade trees on a block (sometimes known as "Voorhees Campus") of about 28 acres (0.11 km²) located on the College Avenue Campus of Rutgers University near downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. An eclectic mix of architectural styles, Voorhees Mall is lined by many historic academic buildings. The block is bound by Hamilton Street (to the east), George Street (north), College Avenue (south) and Seminary Place (west). At the mall's western end, across Seminary Place, is the campus of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, whose history is intertwined with the early history of Rutgers University. Across Hamilton Street is the block called Old Queens, the seat of the university.
The mall bisecting the block was formed when Bleecker Place, a city street, was closed. After several generous donations to Rutgers, including the first building dedicated to housing the institution's library (now known as Voorhees Hall), the grassy mall was named for Ralph and Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees.
Voorhees Mall was once the site of annual commencement exercises for Rutgers College.
Selected Buildings
Riverstede (1868)
Professor George H. Cook (for whom the Cook campus of Rutgers University was named) erected this Italianate-Victorian brownstone which he named Riverstede as his home in 1868. It later was the home of William Henry Steele Demarest (1863–1956), eleventh President of Rutgers University (from 1906 to 1924), during his tenure as President of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary from 1924 to 1934. Today, Riverstede houses various offices for the Rutgers School of Social Work, however, previously it was home to Campus Information Services, the Raritan Club, the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, the Partisan Review, a female graduate student residence, the Rutgers Religious Ministry and the Office of Career Services.
New Jersey Hall (1889)
New Jersey Hall was built from funds authorized by the New Jersey state legislature to construct an "Agricultural Hall" to house the State Experiment Station (now part of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, formerly Cook College). It initially housed the college's departments of Chemistry and Biology. Today, New Jersey Hall houses the university's Department of Economics and the New Jersey Bureau of Economic Research. It is primarily an office building.
Recent efforts have been made to rename New Jersey Hall in honor of Nobel laureate Milton Friedman who graduated from Rutgers College with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) in 1932.
Ballantine Gymnasium (1894-1931) Ballantine Hall was mostly destroyed by fire in the 1930s. The rear of the building remained standing, and when the College Avenue Gymnasium was built a few blocks away, Ballantine Hall was used for classroom space. The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum expanded over the remains of the Ballantine Gym, and the intact tiled pool is today used for storage. Parts of the old Ballantine facade can be seen in the parking lot behind the art museum and in the George Street entrance.
Voorhees Hall (1903) Originally built to house the Rutgers College library, this building is named for Ralph and Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees. The main library was later moved to the Archibald S. Alexander Library. Voorhees Hall later hosted the University Art Gallery which became the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in 1983. Today it houses the university's Department of Art History and the Art History Library which was expanded into an addition to Voorhees Hall in 2002.
Murray Hall (1909) Originally built to house the College of Engineering, Murray Hall was designed by alumnus Douwe D. Williamson (Rutgers College Class of 1870) and Frederick P. Hill (Rutgers College Class of 1883). Built partly with a gift from steel magnate and industrialist Andrew Carnegie, Murray Hall was named for David Murray, professor of mathematics and astronomy at Rutgers College and college trustee. Murray assisted George Cook in establishing the Rutgers Scientific School (now part of Cook College) and in getting Rutgers named a land-grant college under the Morrill Act of 1862. Today, Murray Hall houses classrooms and the university's Department of English and Writing Program; the College of Engineering (now named the School of Engineering) has since relocated to Busch Campus in Piscataway.