Have you ever wondered why the University was founded in 1919, yet none of the buildings on campus appear to be 100 years old? Did you know that the University only started building on Wilbraham Road in the 1950s? So where was the college before then?

Beginning in 1919 and well into the 1960s, Western New England, or Northeastern University Springfield Division as it was called before 1951, was located in the YMCA building on Chestnut Street in downtown Springfield.

The facility had classrooms, labs, administrative offices, a library, student lounges, and a bookstore, all contained within the second and third floors of the YMCA building.

YMCA floorplan, from the 1959-1960 student handbook

While students were attending classes downtown, buildings were constructed, one by one, on the Wilbraham Road campus. The first building, East Building, now known as Emerson Hall, was opened for classes in 1959. The floor plan for Emerson can be seen in the student handbook of 1959/1960 labeled as the “Main Campus Classroom Building”.

East Building floorplan, from the 1959-1960 student handbook

Next came Deliso Hall, or as it was originally named, the Administrative Building, which housed administrative offices, classrooms, the library, the bookstore, and even a snack bar. And slowly the center of operation moved to Wilbraham Road.

If you’d like to know more about the history of the campus, be on the lookout for a new online exhibition at the start of the centennial year, 2019, detailing the history of all the buildings on campus!