639 38th Street

Designation

Rock Island's 100 Most Significant Unprotected Structures, 2009; 2 Individual National Register Designations

Significance Statement

Historic campus of Augustana College.

Architectural Style

Tudor Revival; International; Italian Renaissance Revival; Craftsman; Beaux Arts; Utilitarian; Eclectic; Second Empire

Construction Date

1865-1955

Architect / Builder

Cervin, Olof Z.; Patton & Miller; Hallberg, L.G.; Hammatt, E.S.

Tour Publications

Historical Highlights of Augustana College

College History

Founded in 1860 in Chicago, Augustana College and Theological Seminary moved three years later to Paxton, Illinois, remaining there for 12 years prior to its move to Rock Island, where the first college building was dedicated on September 22, 1875. The school was the flagship educational institution of the Augustana Lutheran Synod, a national church body made up primarily of Swedish immigrants and their descendants. Following a merger which created the Lutheran Church in America in 1962, the Seminary left Rock Island to become part of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Today, Augustana is related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and is considered to be among America's leading liberal arts colleges.

Rock Island Campus

The collection of historic buildings that make up the Augustana College campus is varied architecturally, but unified in taking inspiration from the landscape. Situated in the plains and bluffs adjacent to the Mississippi River, the vistas are unparalleled. For generations, campus architects and designers have taken full advantage of the beauty offered. Given the fact that the college has been located in Rock Island for well over a century, a variety of architects were employed for the institution's buildings, many of them local.

For more information on each of the Augustana College historic buildings, please see the brochure "Historical Highlights of Augustana College." Here are Augustana College's Most Significant Unprotected Structures:

• Abrahamson Hall (3449 7th Avenue)
• Andreen Hall (1937; Tudor Revival; 960 38th Street)
• Bergendoff Hall (International; 3701 7th Avenue)
• Carlsson Hall (1928; Italian Renaissance Revival; 3601 7th Avenue)
• Cervin-Ryden House (1914; Craftsman; Olof Z. Cervin, Architect; 3400 10th Avenue)
• Denkmann Memorial Hall (1911; Beaux Arts; Patton & Miller, Architects; 3520 7th Avenue)
• Ericson Field & Stadium (1939; Utilitarian; 520 38th Street)
• Esbjorn House (Eclectic; 3025 10th Avenue)
• Old Main (1889; Italian Renaissance Revival; L.G. Hallberg & E.S. Hammatt, Architects; 3600 7th Avenue)
• Seminary Hall & Founders Hall (1923, 1955; Tudor Revival; 820 38th Street)
• Sorensen Hall (1898; remodeled 1957-59; International; 639 38th Street)
• Weyerhaeuser House (1865; Second Empire; 3052 10th Avenue)
• Weyerhaeuser Carriage House (Utilitarian)