Mumford and Some

Where It Is
The University of Illinois was built on a north to south axis, concentrated around four main quads. The northernmost quad, the Beckman Quad, opens on the southern side of the Beckman Institute. This building replaced the old, multipurpose Elephant which fell over in the 1880s. The Beckman Quad and the Bardeen Quad to the south form the Engineering Campus. Boneyard Creek runs through the Bardeen Quad where it dips underground for a mile or so before flowing out underneath the Old Stone Bridge. The third quad (from north to south) is the Main Quad, around which sit Altgeld, Harker, and Lincoln Halls. It forms the center of the Humanities campus. The southernmost quad, known as the South Quad or the Agriculture Quad, marks the focus of the Agriculture College.

I've made a little map to orient you:

Today we're going to take a look at the South Quad. I took these pictures on the same drizzly day in October that I took the Lincoln Hall pictures. I made it all the way to the McFarland Bell Tower and the Mumford House. This southern point feels like the edge of the world. I saw, farther south, a building with fantastic Dutch Gables (which, of course, comes from Deutsche), but the rain drove me back to the car. I still don't know what Dutch Gabled Building I saw, but one day I will return, MacArthur-style with a corn cob pipe to retake it.

I did get some pictures of the bell tower and the farm house, though.

Mumford Farm House
The University built this Gothic cottage in 1870 and it's the oldest remaining structure on campus. Built as a model farmhouse to inspire Illinois corn growers in much the same way as the Round Barns, this structure provided a home for University Folks for over 100 years. Former residents include George E. Morrow, namesake for the experimental corn field, Thomas Burrill, important for negotiating funds from Governor Altgeld, and the eponymous Herbert W. Mumford, Dean of the College of Agriculture. After Dean Mumford passed away, the Art School took over the building and used it to house artists in residence.

The Mumford House received extensive renovations in 2010 and two additions, a summer kitchen and well house built in 1891 and a parlor from 1922, were removed. I guess they weren't old-timey enough. The little house has been the center of controversy at least twice. First, they wanted to knock it down to build the McFarland Bell Tower, then after building the bell tower, they wanted to move the Mumford House down to Windsor Road (the actual edge of the world). Bell tower proponents thought the little farmhouse detracted from the grandeur of McFarland. Mumford fans claimed that bell tower proponents were lousy jerks. If Mumford had been moved, the National Historic Register would have removed it from the list. Luckily, the Mumfordians won in the end and the farmhouse remains.

McFarland Bell Tower 
Richard McFarland, food business heavy weight, funded the bell tower in 2004. He named it after his wife, Sally, who passed away a year before after battling ovarian cancer. The original plans, advocated by University Chimesmaster Emeritus, Albert E. Marion included extensive renovations in Altgeld Hall.

Let's back up. You read that correctly. Albert E. Marion was appointed University Chimesmaster in 1958 and served in that capacity until 1994 when he retired and became University Chimesmaster Emeritus. I don't know what a Chimesmaster does, but Mr. Marion's life-long dream was to have a four octave carillon installed in Altgeld.

Carillon comes from French, where it basically means Glockenspiel, the German word for Xylophone. Think of a carillon as a giant musical instrument housed in a bell tower. Your basic carillon has 23 bells, that is 2 octaves, chromatically tuned and played by a keyboard. You need 47 to make it 4 octaves. The 49 bell carillon planned by Chimesmaster Emeritus Marion wouldn't fit in Altgeld's narrow tower, so campus architects went to the drawing board to design a new bell tower.

McFarland Tower, built on the south quad in a location that didn't require moving the Mumford House, is 185 ft. tall and houses 49 bells cast in the Netherlands, since the Dutch are pretty much the best bell makers in the world. This 4 octave instrument is controlled by an electronic keyboard, but also came pre-programmed to play over 500 songs.

McFarland did not replace Altgeld as the primary bell tower. It was, however, set to play in unison with the  bells of Altgeld, every quarter hour.

During construction, some teenaged pranksters hung a red eye between the vertical elements of the tower to make it look like the Eye of Sauron from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

A-Ha! Photography

Peter Jackson

Apparently, the Campus Police never identified the culprits. Word on the street is they thought it was pretty funny, too.

Many people claim the tower resembles a popular part of the male anatomy. The inferior epiphysis of the fibula, of course. What were you thinking?

Gray's Anatomy

To put it the McFarland Tower into perspective, the UT Tower reaches 300 ft. and houses 56 bells. So, I guess bell towers, at least, are bigger in Texas. Sorry, Illinois.

I wanted to get a picture from the ground up through the center of the tower, but two kids were making out beneath it. I mean, I guess that's romantic or whatever, making out in the drizzling rain underneath a bell tower, but they messed up my shot. I think they watch too many movies and I hope they have a messy break up.

Parting Shot
We all know Netherlanders are the best bell makers, but have you ever wondered about the different between the Netherlands, Holland, and Dutch? CGP Grey, aka pretty much the smartest guy ever, knows the answer: