Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Barracks


Jackson Arch and the Barracks at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), seen from across a corner of the parade grounds.

VMI is the country's oldest state military college, founded in 1839 on the site of the former Lexington arsenal. The first Barracks, designed by Andrew Jackson Davis in the Gothic revival style that characterizes the entire "Post" (as the campus is called), was not built until 1850; it was burned beyond redemption by General Hunter in 1864, during what came to be known as "Hunter's Raid." Almost the whole of VMI was left in ruins.

The Barracks was rebuilt after the war, and a new facade facing the parade grounds - with a central arch in memory of General "Stonewall" Jackson (who taught at VMI from 1851 until the outbreak of the Civil War) - was added. Later additions have had to keep pace with the now 1,300 cadets, all of whom live in the Barracks, in spartan conditions, for their full tenure.

For pictures that capture something of the spirit of this unusual school, see the slideshow on the home page of VMI's newly-redesigned website: Here

7 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

You photographed it well. It's so hard to get such a big building all in one shot! Great and informative post too :)

Unknown said...

The building surely looks beautiful and massive, but what I most like is the huge amazing shadow of the tree. Fantastic!

CeciliaGallerani said...

JM - I, too, like the shadow best -- one thing I've learned about myself in the one week that I've been doing this is that, if given a choice, I always choose the picture with the imposing shadow.

Tanya - Thank you for all your comments. After looking over today's entry, I'm thinking that "informative" may translate a little too much into "boring;" short may be better!

Tanya Breese said...

LOL MK, I don't think it's boring at all!

MurciaDailyPhoto said...

Now I understand why you ask me on my blog if the image of today belongs to an artillery barracks. Of course, if we compare yours with mine. Yours is much more military. The construction of the mine is more family / art. Very good picture.

CeciliaGallerani said...

Purely as architecture, I like yours better, MurciaDailyPhoto. It impresses me that so much delicate decoration was used on such a building. Frankly, I am not a fan of minimalism.

I am very attracted to the tile from Spain, Mexico, Portugal, and Persia -- all descended from the same source ultimately, I guess. I'd love to see more of that on your blog, if you have it.

gogouci said...

The tree's shadow in the middle of the picture make's this picture. Great wide angle view of the structure.