☞ WALK: Buell Hall

Columbia University did not move uptown until the turn of the century but there is one building on campus that existed almost ninety years before. Upon viewing the neoclassical architecture in the immediate vicinity (designed by the renowned firm McKim, Mead and White), it is apparent that the building called Buell Hall does not quite match. The red, pitched roof brick structure with stained glass windows was the original administration headquarters for the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane and has the distinction of being the oldest building on campus. The Asylum, established in 1808, occupied the current spot on which the main campus was built once the patients were relocated to Westchester.

Take the 1 train to 116th street and walk through the campus gates.