Remainders From the Fire

The artifacts below are the few remainders from the Administration Building. When the Administration Building burned down almost everything was lost, including records and transcripts which told Elon's history. Now, these objects which still remain tell the story of what was before the tragic fire.

This is one of the only pieces remaining after the Administration Building burned down on January 18, 1923. The bell can be seen on display in the Alamance Building. There are cracks throughout the bell and erosion from the hot flames.

Above is a picture of the chandelier from Philologian Literary Society Hall in the Administration Building which now hangs in the Belk Library Archives at Elon University. It had been removed from the Administration prior to 1923. This article tells the story of its return to Elon in 2016.

The photograph depicted above is of the original room that the chandelier hung in before the fire in 1923 destroyed the Administration Building and the society hall in it.

These photographs depict the only books to survive the fire of 1923 that destroyed the Administration building, including the library. It is believed that the books were checked out by students and faculty at the time of the fire. These few surviving books, along with donations to the college during the spring and summer of 1923, became the core of the new collection when Carlton Library was constructed. The books in the photograph are currently housed in a glass case on the second floor of Belk Library. They include encyclopedias, religious texts, and historical texts.