Chappelle Administration Building, Colonial Revival building at Allen University in Columbia, United States
The Chappelle Administration Building is a 3+1⁄2-story masonry structure of red brick with stone trim and a slate roof, standing at the northwestern corner of Allen University's campus, facing Harden Street. Its main facade is fourteen bays wide, with a three-arched single-story porch across the middle six bays, a low balustrade above, and a pedimented second-floor entrance. Five gabled dormers pierce the roof, and a reproduction of the original cupola, destroyed by lightning in 1974, sits on top.
Completed in 1925, the building was designed by John Anderson Lankford, an architect trained at the Tuskegee Institute. Its construction marked a significant phase in the growth of Allen University as an educational institution for African Americans.
The building honours Bishop William D. Chappelle, president of Allen University from 1898 to 1899, and its name appears as "Chapelle" in Historic American Buildings Survey and National Park Service reports. Allen University, founded in 1870, moved its campus to Columbia in 1880; the building remains a working administrative centre on the campus's northwestern corner at Harden Street.
The Chappelle Building stands at the northwestern corner of the Allen University block, facing Harden Street, northeast of downtown Columbia. It lies within the Waverly Protection Area, an expansion of the Waverly Historic District. The main facade is fourteen bays wide, with a three-arched porch across the middle six bays.
The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, formally recognizing its national significance. This honor acknowledges both its architectural merit and its role in the broader story of African American educational achievement across the country.
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