The Early Campus
Virtual McGill

Engraving of Burnside, James McGill's house -- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)


Campus in 1859
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Montreal from Mount Royal by E. Whitefield (1852)
-- McGill Archives

Montreal from Mount Royal before 1860
-- McGill Archives

Stone gate entrance to campus with Arts in the background (1865)
-- McGill Archives

View down McTavish Street with both Rupert's and Prince of Wales Terraces (1869)
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

McGill campus with Arts, Observatory, Presbyterian College, and Old Medical Building (1873-80)
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Sketch of the campus in 1875 with Arts, Gatehouse, Observatory, and Presbyterian College
-- McGill Archives

Campus with many trees (1885)
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Sketch of campus before 1907
-- McGill Archives

McGill's Tomb from Arts Building in winter (1920's)
-- McGill Archives

Campus before 1907
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Campus before 1907
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Redpath Museum and Presbyterian College (now Morrice Hall) with many trees (1907)
-- McGill Archives

Macdonald Engineering and Physics before 1907
-- McGill Archives

East campus in 1915
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)

Campus from the southwest (1920)
-- McGill Archives

West campus, including power house (1920s)
-- McGill Archives

Redpath Museum, Redpath Library, and Presbyterian College (now Morrice Hall) (1901)
-- McGill Archives

Aerial view of campus (1920s)
-- Notman Archives (McCord Museum)
 
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The Campus: 1930-1960s
The Campus Today

The first classes at McGill College (now McGill University) were held in 1829 in Burnside Place, James McGill's country home. In 1843, the University constructed its first buildings, the central and east wings of the present Arts Building. When Sir William Dawson became principal of the University in 1855, he took it upon himself to landscape the campus and repair its buildings. Before long, he had recruited the aid of several of Montreal's wealthiest men, among them Sir William Molson, Sir William Macdonald, Sir Peter Redpath, and Lord Strathcona. These upstanding citizens all donated liberally to the University by giving much needed property, funding, and buildings, including the Redpath Museum (1880), Macdonald Physics Building (1893), the Redpath Library (1893), the Macdonald Chemistry Building (1896), the Macdonald Engineering Building (1907), and the Strathcona Medical Building (1907 - now the Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building). The period of expansion they created continued through the 1920s, by the end of which McGill was a University of some renown.