201 College Street North
Built in 1873. Renovations in 1879, 1954, 1978.
Built as the college’s first permanent structure in 1873 and remodeled after a fire in 1879, Willis is the oldest building in continual use on campus. For decades, the bell in Willis’ iconic clock tower rang ten minutes before the hour to help students get to class on time, after the football team’s victories, and anytime two students got engaged. Even after use of the bells stopped in the 1950s, students used the four clock faces on the tower to know when to begin walking to class, but professors complained into the 1960s that these were inaccurate and regularly caused students to show up late. Beloved economics professor Ada Harrison pointed out in her “annual complaint” in 1964 that the four clock faces on the tower couldn’t even be trusted to agree with each other. Luckily, we have many other ways of telling time now!
Floor plans
For security purposes, building floorplans are only available to Carleton faculty, staff, and students :
Floor 1, Floor 2, Floor 3, Floor 4
Offices & Departments:
American Studies
Economics
Educational Studies
Environmental Studies
Linguistics