Altgeld Hall owes its distinctive exterior appearance to its namesake. A famous supporter of higher education, Gov. John Peter Altgeld also had an eye for architecture and didn’t care for most of the state’s buildings. “Scarcely any of them have any character,” he said. “Nearly all of them look like warehouses or shops.”

After successfully championing the creation of more normal schools, Altgeld was not shy about sharing his ideas for their design. The best and least expensive way to make future buildings more impressive, he decreed in a letter to all college trustees, was to employ the English castle style. “As there is no other style of effective ornamentations

that is within our means we must insist that this style be adopted,” he wrote.

Architect Charles Brush of Chicago took those words to heart in his design of Altgeld Hall. The building’s turrets, arches, stone ornamentation
and distinctive battlements along the roofline quickly earned it the nickname “The Castle on the Hill.” Others followed those same marching orders in the design of buildings that today stand on the campuses of Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Illinois State and the University of Illinois.

While the interior has undergone several renovations and reconfigurations, the
exterior of Altgeld Hall has remained