Property Record
855 WOODROW ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Edgewood College |
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| Other Name: | Edgewood College |
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| Reference Number: | 102278 |
| Location (Address): | 855 WOODROW ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
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| Year Built: | 1940 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1973 |
| Historic Use: | university or college building |
| Architectural Style: | Art Deco |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Villa Edgewood was begun for Philadelphia lawyer John Ashmead in 1855 and completed for local banker Samuel Marshall in 1857. In 1873, Gov. Cadwallader Washburn and his wife Jeannette, purchased the 55 acre property for their private residence. In 1881, he donated it to the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa for educational purposes. In this mansion, they started Edgewood Academy of the Sacred Heart, an elementary and high school for girls. In 1893, the whole building burned, killing three students. A combination academy and convent building was constructed on the same site immediately after the fire and the school continued as before. Until the 1930s much of the rest of the property remained a farm which supplied food for the students. The academy-convent was torn down in 1969. A new building was built in 1925, serving as a high school for boys and girls and a residential junior college for women. Edgewood added a four year liberal arts college in 1942 and turned co-educational in 1970. The high school building was designed by Gov. Washburn's grandson, architect Albert Kelsy. The oldest building on campus is Marshall Hall, located behind the high school. It was built in 1864 as a carriage house and servants quarters. It was redesigned as a dormitory by John J. Flad in 1944. A parking ramp, upgraded athletic field and a science building were completed in 1999. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Exploring the Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood brochure, 1999. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |