Coburn Hall
Coburn Hall was built in 1887鈥88 for the departments of Agriculture and Natural History. In addition to administrative offices and classrooms, Coburn contained the college library and a natural history museum. The building was named in honor of Abner Coburn, chairman of the Board of Trustees for many years and governor of Maine in the 1860s. Frank E. Kidder, a Boston architect and an 1879 Maine State College graduate, prepared the plans for Coburn Hall. Kidder also authored 鈥淭he Architects鈥 and Builders鈥 Pocket-Book鈥 (later 鈥淭he Architects鈥 and Builders鈥 Handbook鈥), a technical book about building construction that has been used by several generations of builders and architects. Coburn Hall was considered a significant addition to the campus as it represented the importance of agriculture to the college and to the state.
鈥淐oburn Hall 1887鈥 is engraved on sandstone above the second-story windows on the fa莽ade. 鈥淐oburn鈥 is on rough-faced stone and 鈥淗all 1887鈥 is engraved on smooth stone. The stones were cut and erected before it was realized they did not match. Trustees decided to leave them as they were rather than replace them.
Coburn Hall has a marble plaque commemorating Ivy Day, a late 19th-century University of Maine tradition. Graduating seniors planted ivy and placed ivy-shaped stone plaques engraved with their year of graduation on buildings.