Mars Hill University's Lower Quad

Adjacent to the Historic Quad lies the Lower Quad as well as the campus athletic facilities including Chambers Gymnasium, the Ammons Family Athletic Center, Meares Stadium, Henderson Field, and the Hart Tennis Complex. To the left of campus lies Little Mountain which contains seventy-five acres of land that was secured by the institution during the Dr. Moore’s administration. The story of how Mars Hill was able to procure those seventy-five acres has become part of campus legend. It is said that House Mother Carolina Jane Biggers was aware that the school needed additional land to build much needed dormitories for students. In response to this, Mrs. Biggers took her girls’ prayer circle to the top of Little Mountain where they prayed that the needed land would be given to the college. As time went by, the prayer circle grew larger and included Mars Hill Baptist Church Pastor, Reverend Jesse Owens. The owner of the land, John Robert Sams, was a trustee and former president of Mars Hill College. Mr. Sams and his daughter, Mrs. John Anderson, made the decision to gift their parcels of the land to the college. Soon after, Mars Hill was able to procure the remained of the land for a small cost, allowing them to construct two new dorms for men that would open in 1924 as the hill became known as “Men’s Hill.” Along with Men’s Hill, Women’s Hill sits to the right of campus. Between 1938 and 1947, the school constructed three new dormitories on Women’s Hill. The construction of the dorms allowed for female students to reside on the north side of campus while male students would populate the south side of campus with the main campus dividing the two sides. Today, many Mars Hill College alumni still refer to both sites and Men’s Hill or Women’s Hill when the return to campus but the students currently live across campus alongside their classmates and peers. Also to the right of campus rises Bailey Mountain. Below the base of the popular peak sits the Carter-Humphrey Guest House and the Heritage Log Cabin. Gifted and moved to campus in the 1930s, this one-room schoolhouse was constructed in the 1850s for the Arrington Branch Neighborhood of the Grapevine Community. Sitting across for the Heritage Cabin is the former Coyte Bridges Cafeteria which today serves as Renfro Library and houses the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies and the Southern Appalachian Archives. Next to Renfro Library are the Wren Student Union as well as the Wall Science building.