Hamilton Hall

Originally known simply as the “Classroom Building,” Hamilton Hall has always served as the main classroom building for the Oklahoma Panhandle State University campus. At a cost of $409,748, the building opened to welcome students at the end of 1963. In 1969, guests at the annual alumni banquet voted to request a name change for the building, and on May 2, 1969, the Board of Regents approved the building’s re-identification to “Hamilton Hall.” Alumni believed that Morrison C. Hamilton should be honored with a building which carried his name. Dr. Hamilton first assumed teaching responsibilities on the Goodwell campus in 1936 and served as the Head of the Department of Social Science in the 1940’s. He and his wife, Dorothy, also worked as dorm parents for North Hall residents from 1946 until 1949.

Through the years, Hamilton Hall has housed many academic units: education, mathematics, history, English, foreign language, earth science, psychology, sociology, business, criminal justice, geography, speech, humanities, computer science, political science, and testing and placement. In 1991, an elevator was installed in the three-story building. Currently, the building contains 22 classrooms and 19 faculty offices, the Office of Testing, Placement, and Counseling; the School of Education; earth science classes; a conference room; mathematics classes; and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Hamilton Hall remains the lynch pin structure for OPSU’s academic instruction.