Epworth Hall
419 NE 1st St., Gainesville, FLEpworth Hall was erected in 1884 when the need for adequate classrooms in the East Florida Seminary became a pressing problem. Funds for the construction of the building were raised through private donations with a scholarship promised to those patrons who gave at least one hundred dollars. The construction contract was awarded to J. 0. Goodale on a low bid of $11,000. The building was completed in 1884 and served as a classroom building until the Seminary was abolished by the legislature in a 1905 act which provided for the establishment of the University and the State College for Women. In 1906, the University of Florida held its first classes in Epworth Hall. The property was purchased from the State of Florida in 1911 by the Trustees of the First United Methodist Church. It was at this time that the building was named Epworth Hall. (It had never been officially given a name).
Epworth Hall has played a very significant role in the development of Florida's educational system in that it was an integral part of the campuses of both the East Florida Seminary and the University of Florida.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.