Old Main, 67 years ago today..........

[The Peeper]

Anybody got any stories? I worked for a guy when I was in high school that had lived in it from '43-'47. He said there were certain sections of it where residents had made holes in the walls and used those to move about the building after "lights out" at night which the school was serious about since it was largely military members or soon to be. After lights out everybody removed whatever they had put in front of the holes to hide them and started moving up and down the halls through the holes. He said it wasn't un-common to wake up in the night and have people moving through your room in the dark going to the next room.

I didn't realize women were allowed but when I met my "Grandmother-in-law" she told me and my wife stories about her living in there in the late '20s and early '30s.



In its glory................

 

[00Dawg]

My grandfather stayed there in the early 40's. He backed up the stories that there were motorcycle races in the halls, and that at least once they prepped and flooded a hall and had a canoe race.
He also said he couldn't believe it burned down, referencing people using fire to try and burn out mice/rats from their holes.

 

[RocketDawg]

According to a google search, the cause of the fire isn't definitively known, but a couple of possibilities are an overturned lit candelabrum (something that was against rules), or perhaps faulty wiring.

I suppose the caution in the aftermath of the fire led to the dorm rules when I was there from 1965-70. We were not allowed to have any sort of electric appliance beyond a radio - no TVs, nothing with a heating element. Those strict limitation were supposedly due to electrical limitations. The rules were still in effect in the new dorms, like Hamlin and Suttle which should have had up-to-date wiring. Of course, there were always violations of the rules, but most were minor, like a resistive heating element that you'd put in a coffee cup.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

That same year a group of students developed a laser they reflected all over campus before finally striking Old Main and burning it down

 

[dudehead]

My dad was an MSU student when Old Main burned. As I remember it, he was a resident of Old Main and watched it burn from the drill field. I don't remember any details like "were you or any of your friends hurt," "where did you sleep after that," etc. Sometimes I think that our predecessors had more fortitude than us about moving forward in life even after experiencing significant "life" events like this.

Thanks for the post. I wish my dad was still with me enough to be able to ask him about it. But at least he's still on this side of the daisies.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

My uncle lived there in the 60's. He would tell a tale of motorcycle races, with many laps, around the hall circuit.

My grandfather on the other side, was part of the fire crew that fought the blaze.

 

[HailStout]

That same year a group of students developed a laser they reflected all over campus before finally striking Old Main and burning it down
View attachment 1159237

Bravo, sir. Bravo.

 

[HailStout]

This makes me incredibly sad. Old main would have been something special to still have.

 

[FlotownDawg]

My uncle lived there in the 60's. He would tell a tale of motorcycle races, with many laps, around the hall circuit.

My grandfather on the other side, was part of the fire crew that fought the blaze.

Perhaps you meant the 50s? He couldn't have lived there in the 60s because it burned down in 1959.

 

[DawgNsuds]

My uncle lived there in the 60's. He would tell a tale of motorcycle races, with many laps, around the hall circuit.

My grandfather on the other side, was part of the fire crew that fought the blaze.

don't believe your uncle lived there in the 60's since it burned down in 1959

 

[HotMop]

According to a google search, the cause of the fire isn't definitively known, but a couple of possibilities are an overturned lit candelabrum (something that was against rules), or perhaps faulty wiring.

I suppose the caution in the aftermath of the fire led to the dorm rules when I was there from 1965-70. We were not allowed to have any sort of electric appliance beyond a radio - no TVs, nothing with a heating element. Those strict limitation were supposedly due to electrical limitations. The rules were still in effect in the new dorms, like Hamlin and Suttle which should have had up-to-date wiring. Of course, there were always violations of the rules, but most were minor, like a resistive heating element that you'd put in a coffee cup.

@dawgstudent couldn't have survived with his plethora of big screen tvs absent.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Perhaps you meant the 50s? He couldn't have lived there in the 60s because it burned down in 1959.

don't believe your uncle lived there in the 60's since it burned down in 1959

I know he was housed there, but my father had a much older brother. He remembers dropping him off on the hwy to hitch hike to State. Dad was born in '54. I took a guess at the time frame.


ETA: Just confirmed with my old man that my uncle was there the night of the fire.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

I was a kid but saw Old Main the next morning after the fire. It was still smoldering and firemen were still on the scene. A long time ago but I never forgot it.

 

[GloryDawg]

 

[MaxwellSmart]

My Dad was living in Old Main and there the night of the fire. He said he had time to get everything he owned out safely but one of the residents went back in, he believed to get some stereo equipment, and was killed.

 

[HotMop]

This makes me incredibly sad. Old main would have been something special to still have.

They probably would have torn it down to build a replica of Dorman Hall so they could highlight its beauty from the drill field.

 

[DawgNsuds]

Does anyone know if they considered rebuilding it after? I know a portion of it was used to build the chapel, just wondered if restoring it was even an option or was the fire just to destructive?

 

[L4Dawg]

Does anyone know if they considered rebuilding it after? I know a portion of it was used to build the chapel, just wondered if restoring it was even an option or was the fire just to destructive?

Look at the pictures. It looked like a bombed out ruin from WWII Berlin. Only the bricks still standing.

 

[Choctaw Dawg]

My grandad was living there when the fire happened. Said guys were coming down the hall yelling that a fire had broke out and they quickly packed their stuff and threw it out of the window (it wasn't much stuff according to him, he made sure to say they didn't bring much to college with them. It was just enough to fit in a medium sized bag.) They were able to get out safely

 

[DawgNsuds]

Look at the pictures. It looked like a bombed out ruin from WWII Berlin. Only the bricks still standing.

and yet, some of those bombed out buildings were restored

 

[eckie1]

Anybody got any stories? I worked for a guy when I was in high school that had lived in it from '43-'47. He said there were certain sections of it where residents had made holes in the walls and used those to move about the building after "lights out" at night which the school was serious about since it was largely military members or soon to be. After lights out everybody removed whatever they had put in front of the holes to hide them and started moving up and down the halls through the holes. He said it wasn't un-common to wake up in the night and have people moving through your room in the dark going to the next room.

I didn't realize women were allowed but when I met my "Grandmother-in-law" she told me and my wife stories about her living in there in the late '20s and early '30s.


View attachment 1159208
In its glory................

View attachment 1159178


View attachment 1159192

View attachment 1159193 View attachment 1159196

View attachment 1159197

My uncle was a resident there when it burned. All he was able to salvage was his marine uniform. I don’t remember any particular stories, and he’s no longer with us…. But I do know he died being a Bulldog to the core.

 

[Lowdog]

My dad lived there. Graduated from state 1949. WWII veteran and a navy pilot.

 

[L4Dawg]

and yet, some of those bombed out buildings were restored

Not the ones that were brick shells. Torn down and rebuilt at best.

 

[grinnindawg]

Dad lived there in the 30s. He had a few Old main stories.
As a freshmen he got tired of hazing so he caught the guy everyone thought was the toughest senior in the hall and beat him into a couple of days in the infirmary. Turns out picking on someone who'd been delivering ice for a living was a bad plan. During the fight the guy hit dad in the back of the head with a door knob. Had headaches for a while.

He also built a big "firecracker" out of a couple of packs of firecrackers and masking tape. Blew out all the windows on one 3rd floor corner and made a small crater in the floor.