Boreman Hall is a residence hall on the campus of West Virginia University

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

 in Morgantown, West Virginia

Morgantown, West Virginia

Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...

. Originally called Men's Hall when it was constructed in 1935, the hall is named after Arthur I. Boreman

Arthur I. Boreman

Arthur Inghram Boreman was the first Governor of the U.S. state of West Virginia and a United States Senator.-Biography:...

, the first governor of the state of West Virginia.

With the addition of a new annex building in 1963, Boreman Hall is now actually two separate buildings. Boreman Hall North, the newer of the two, is currently an all female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 dorm, the only single sex residence hall on the campus. Boreman Hall South, the older E-shaped building, is coed and includes 10 entrances. These entrances are connected to the others by way of bathrooms and ground floor lounges.

Construction on the original building started in 1934 and opened in time for the 1935 school year. With its opening, the university finally had a place for its men to live on campus. Before the hall was completed, men had to either live in fraternity

Fraternity and sorority houses

North American fraternity and sorority housing refers largely to the houses or housing areas that fraternity and sorority members live and work together in...

 houses, boarding house

Boarding house

A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...

s, or with a local Morgantown family.

Funding for the building came in part from the federal Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 which was a New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

 agency set up during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 of the 1930s. The building cost $625,000 at the time which is roughly equal to about $8.5 million in 2003 US Dollars.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the hall was used as an Army Air Force barracks

Barracks

Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

. Prominent dents in the doors of Boreman hall could still be seen as recently as 1999, remnants of Drill Instructors striking to doors sharply with rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

 butts in order to awaken soldiers/airmen at early hours, especially new recruits. Directly across from the hall, where the current Student Union

Student union

Student union may refer to:* Students' union, or student government in the U.S., a student organization at many colleges and universities dedicated to student governance...

 stands, there was a parade field and an armory that were used as training grounds. Residents of the hall were transported to the Morgantown airport

Morgantown Municipal Airport

Morgantown Municipal Airport , also known as Walter L. Bill Hart Field, is a public-use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Morgantown, in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States. The airport is owned by the City of Morgantown...

, where they were trained by the US Air Force.

Since the end of the war, the hall has been used strictly as a residence hall and continues to be used as such today. It has been renovated and remodeled over the years, but it has remained one of the main cornerstones of the West Virginia University community and has often been the building where new programs that have moved campus-wide have been instituted.

The hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.