Date Built: 1892; renovated 1945, 1999
Named For: Robert J. Breckinridge
Current Use: residence hall
Breckinridge Hall was originally built as a dormitory for students of the Danville Theological Seminary, although the seminary would only use part of the building. When the seminary consolidated with the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in 1901, Centre took over Breckinridge as a residence hall for students. Robert McMullen, who graduated from Centre in 1905 and would become the college’s president in 1944, recalled living in Breck as a student when there was no central heating, but fireplaces, no bathrooms, but washstands with bowls and pitchers, and those who desired a bath would go to the gym. On March 2, 1908, a fire destroyed much of the building, and it was rebuilt to house college executive offices, lectures, and classrooms of the Department of Modern Languages, a large drawing-room, and dormitory space. During World War II it housed cadets from the Army Air Corps 20th College Training Detachment and immediately following the war workmen laying a gas pipeline.