Snelling Dining Hall – UGA 1643 (1940, 1979; Category 2). Snelling Hall is located on the corner of Sanford Drive and West Green Street. It was designed by Richard Driftmier and Roy Hitchcock as one of the buildings constructed during the Great Depression with federal funding from the Public Works Administration.
Snelling Hall was constructed in 1940 as a dining hall serving the women’s dormitory complex organized around Soule Hall, just to the north. Renovated in 1969, the building was expanded in 1979 with additions. The building is named for Charles M. Snelling, who came to Georgia to teach mathematics in the late nineteenth century. He commanded the cadet corps that was established as part of the transition to a land grant institution, and later became dean under Chancellor Barrow, whom he succeeded in 1926. Snelling later became the first chancellor of the new University System of Georgia.
Snelling Hall is organized with a substantial two-story brick entrance pavilion facing the corner of the two streets. The entrance pavilion features tall Egyptian- inspired columns and formal detailing designed by Roy Hitchcock. Brick wings with steep sloping roofs extend from the pavilion along the line of the two streets creating an L-shaped primary building form. Behind the primary structure is a more utilitarian one-story high structure that fills in the space between the L, creating a square overall footprint. The building is shown on 1942 and 1947 plans of the campus.
On the interior of the entrance pavilion is a two-story space with fine detailing that remains intact from its 1940 construction. The wing along Sanford Drive houses a two-story banquet space, also intact, and has tall arched wood double- hung windows facing the street. Significantly, the building’s original wood windows remain despite multiple renovations and are important character defining features. The wing along West Green Street has been renovated into a contemporary dining hall.
Brick additions were added along the streets in front of both wings in 1979. While the additions diminished the integrity of the building, their form, brickwork, and overall character are complementary to the original building, despite being clearly of modern design rather than traditional.
The building is significant to the New Deal period of University growth, retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic associations, and appears to contribute to a National Register-eligible historic district. It is assessed as a Category 2 resource.
Snelling Bell (1915, 1980s, Category 3). Cast in 1915 by the McShane Foundry of Baltimore, Maryland, the Snelling bell, or dining bell was placed outside the main entrance of Snelling Dining Hall in the late 1980s. The bell is historic, while its placement is not.
