Dietz Hall
Franklin & Marshall College
Above: Dietz Hall, south entry. With Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa)
Dietz Hall, built in 1924, is the oldest residence on F&M College campus. Miss Mary E. Santee financed the building’s construction in memory of her deceased fiance, Jacob Y. Dietz, and in memory of her father, Charles Santee. Both men had been F&M trustees. The building is also known as the Dietz-Santee Dormitory.
Mary Santee never married. Her 1923 will also provided a large bequest in memory of her fiance Jacob Dietz to the Lancaster Theological Seminary. The seminary’s Dietz Refectory / restaurant is named for him. The seminary’s Santee Chapel is named for her father.
Dietz Hall dormitory was designed by architect Charles Zeller Klauder, who designed seven buildings on F&M campus. He was that era’s leading architect of collegiate buildings. In 1929 he co-authored the first important book about collegiate buildings: College Architecture in America. He included a photo of this Dietz Dormitory in that book.
The building is a Georgian Colonial Revival design with entry fanlights, Flemish-bond brickwork, water table, dentilled cornices, and segmental arches over the windows.
603 Old Main Dr. (Building #15 ) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
