Here we are at the Laboratory of Mechanics, where Iowa State University’s engineering journey officially lifted off! Take in those grand bricks and the snazzy mansard roof with its elegant slopes-straight out of the Second Empire style playbook, though a little less Paris, a little more practical Iowa. Imagine it’s 1880: horses clop past, and the air smells of coal and fresh sawdust as the original L-shaped building rises under the watchful eye of architect J.B. Ballinger and builder V. Tomlinson. The tower at the entrance is like a giant top hat tipping a welcome to pioneering students hustling in, ready to solve the world’s problems with little more than grit, wrenches, and chalk.
Back then it was known as Engineering Hall-a hive for the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. As the years rolled on, the building grew: an addition in 1885, another in 1933 (maybe because engineers like to expand things), and yet another in 1997. A massive remodel in 1907 transformed it from lecture halls into a full-on laboratory, buzzing with whirring machines and the clatter of invention. Nowadays, instead of steam engines, you’ll find the Architecture Department sketching new dreams, IT Services keeping things running, and Mechanical Engineering still tinkering away. It’s the oldest instructional building on campus and, since 1983, proudly listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Who knew so much history could fit under one mansard roof?
