Amherst College Map & Tours

Search

Table of Contents

Tours

1. Admission Tour

   Learn about our campus, see our beautiful spaces and places, and picture yourself at Amherst.

   Stops

   1. Wilson Admission Center

      Welcome to Amherst! Our tours, led by student guides, will show you the spaces and points of interest that make our campus so unique.
      
      Interested in visiting? Learn about our tours and information sessions, as well as Access to Amherst (A2A).
      
      We hope you enjoy our virtual tour!
      

   2. Athletic Center

      To the left of the Wilson Admission Center, you will approach the indoor athletic facilities of the college. This complex has been renovated frequently over the years to improve the facilities in ways that benefit both Amherst’s student-athletes and the college community as a whole. The most recent $13.4 million renovation included the addition of the 8,000-square-foot Wolff Fitness Center. With a full range of cardiovascular, weight, and exercise equipment, the fitness center is widely regarded as the best such facility in the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference). On the north side of the complex are the Davenport Squash Courts. LeFrak Gymnasium is the structure with the peaked roof. In between is Pratt Pool, while Alumni Gymnasium lies farthest to the west. Peeking above Alumni Gym is the glass roof of Coolidge Cage, an indoor training facility for field sports, tennis, and track-and-field. At the southern end of the complex is Orr Rink. Learn more about our facilities, and find all our athletics news and scores, at athletics.amherst.edu.
      

   3. Kirby Memorial Theater

      Next door to the Admission Office, you will find Kirby Theater. Behind its 1930s neoclassical exterior are state-of-the-art performance facilities with computerized lighting and sound systems, catwalks, and stretch wire grids. Kirby, a 400-seat proscenium theater, serves as the primary stage for Amherst College theater productions. Extending behind Kirby is Holden Theater, a fully equipped, 4,000-square-foot experimental black-box theater that expands the variety and versatility of Amherst’s performance spaces. Holden connects Kirby to the Webster Center, which houses dance, acting, directing, and design studios, as well as additional performance spaces. Keep up with Amherst College Theater and Dance on Facebook.
      

   4. Yushien Japanese Garden

      Around the corner and up the hill from Kirby Theater is a Japanese Garden, called Yushien, which loosely translates to “Garden of Friendship.” The stone steps and unopened bamboo gate invite us to meditate on the question of “What lies beyond the gate after we ascend the difficult stone path?” The garden was designed and installed at Amherst in recognition of the college’s special relationship with Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Doshisha was founded in 1875 by Joseph Hardy Neesima, a young samurai who graduated from Amherst College in 1870.
      

   5. Webster Hall

      At the top of the hill, you will find Webster Center. Webster is home to the Amherst Center for Russian Culture, the Department of Russian, the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, the Creative Writing Center and a portion of the Department of Theater and Dance. The Center for Russian Culture was founded in 1991 through the generosity of Thomas P. Whitney, Class of 1937, who donated his extensive holdings of Russian manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers and rare books and made a $1 million donation to sustain the project. With the world’s largest private collection of its kind, the Center has become a nucleus for Russian cultural activities and research by scholars throughout the world.

   6. First-Year (Main) Quadrangle

      Our beautiful First-Year (Main) Quadrangle is a favorite place for students to hang out, toss a Frisbee, or relax with a book. In the southeast corner of the quad is a statue of Robert Frost, the namesake of the college’s library and a member of the Amherst faculty from 1917 until his death in 1963. Designed by sculptor Penelope Jencks, the statue was carved by artisans in Italy, using a single block of black granite from Zimbabwe, and installed in 2007 as a 50th Reunion gift to the college from the Class of 1957.

   7. College Row—Johnson Chapel, North College & South College

      College Row includes the three oldest buildings on campus. In the center is Johnson Chapel, completed in 1827, flanked on the left and right by North College and South College. Completed in 1821, South housed the entire college until North was built in 1823. The original construction of the three buildings of College Row was made possible by donations from local members of the community, most notably Noah Webster, first president of the Amherst College Board of Trustees and creator of Webster’s Dictionary, and Emily Dickinson’s grandfather Samuel Fowler Dickinson. Fully renovated in recent years, North and South now serve as first-year residence halls. Johnson Chapel is the home of the English Department’s offices and classrooms, as well as the Film and Media Studies Program. The second-floor chapel itself is now used for all-campus meetings, lectures, and musical performances and as a nondenominational space for student religious services.

   8. Charles Pratt Dormitory and James and Stearns Halls

      Standing on the quad, you will see Charles Pratt Dormitory to the south. Constructed in 1885, this building was originally the Pratt Gymnasium, then in 1951 was converted into the Pratt Museum, housing the college’s natural history collection for several decades. After undergoing another large-scale renovation, the Charles Pratt building reopened in 2007 as the newest and largest first-year dormitory on campus. On the first floor of Charles Pratt is the Writing Center, part of the system of academic support services available to all students at Amherst. On the east side of the quad, you will see James and Stearns Halls. These first-year dormitories are connected by a unique underground tunnel. In 2005, the original James and Stearns buildings were torn down and rebuilt. Each of the new dormitories houses 85 first-year students in one-room and two-room doubles. The backs of the buildings feature gracefully curved facades that flank the courtyard shared with the Mead Art Museum.

   9. Frost Library

      On the north side of the quad is the Robert Frost Library. Dedicated in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy in one of his last public appearances, the library is named in recognition of poet Robert Frost’s 40 years of service and teaching at Amherst. Serving as both a college library and a Federal Depository Library, Frost contains more than 1.5 million volumes and more than 130,000 electronic and print journal titles, as well as extensive and varied holdings of rare and historical materials housed in the library’s Archives and Special Collections.
      
      (Other specialized academic collections are located around campus in the Keefe Science Library, the Morgan Music Library, the Olds Mathematics Reading Room and the Center for Russian Culture.)
      
      In addition to 22 specialized research/reference computers, Frost Library offers over 70 PC and Mac stations, audiovisual facilities, extensive individual and group study areas and the Frost Café, one of the college’s newest campus gathering spots for students and faculty.
      

   10. Barrett Hall

       To the right of Frost Library is a gray building called Barrett Hall, which houses the Departments of German, French, and Spanish. The building was originally a gymnasium—one of the first and most advanced gyms in North America. Amherst was the first college in the “New World” to establish an organized athletic department.

   11. Pratt Quad, Morris Pratt and Morrow Dormitories

       Walking around Frost Library, you will enter Pratt Quad, surrounded by Morris Pratt Dormitory, Morrow Dormitory, Grosvenor House and Arms Music Center. In the center of the quad is a statue of Noah Webster, the first president of Amherst’s Board of Trustees and creator of Webster’s Dictionary.
       
       If you stand in front of the Webster statue facing Route 9, you will see Morris Pratt Dormitory on your left and Morrow Dormitory on your right. Morrow and Morris Pratt house sophomore and junior students. In 2006, the buildings underwent major renovations that included modernizing the bedrooms, floor lounges, and bathrooms. Additionally, the first floors of both buildings were redesigned to create offices and meeting spaces for student clubs and organizations.

   12. Arms Music Center

       Next door to Morris Pratt Dormitory, toward Route 9, you will find Arms Music Center, which houses Buckley Recital Hall, a 500-seat performance space. There are also rehearsal spaces for vocal and instrumental groups, the Vincent Morgan Music Library, an electronic music studio, classrooms, offices, storage lockers for instruments and 17 music practice rooms. Music majors and non-majors alike have access to the practice rooms and most of the other facilities in the Music Center.

   13. Lipton House

       Across the street from Arms Music Center is Lipton House, one of the former fraternity houses that became upperclass dormitories when fraternities were abolished on the Amherst campus in 1984. Several other former fraternity houses have been converted into “theme houses” for upperclass students. Theme housing at Amherst includes Charles Drew House (African-American Culture House), Asian Culture House, La Casa Culture House, Marsh Arts House, German Culture House, Russian Culture House, French Culture House, Spanish Culture House and Humphries Co-Op House.

   14. Grosvenor House

       At the northeast corner of Pratt Quad, across the driveway from Arms Music Center, you will see the cheerful yellow Grosvenor House. This renovated farmhouse is home to the department of Classics and Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies.
       

   15. Valentine Dining Hall

       Our students enjoy meals in our spacious and sunny Valentine Hall, designed with a central serving area and numerous small seating areas for groups of students to share meals. Valentine offers two meal plans—an all-inclusive “3 Meals/7 Days” plan and a “Lunch & Dinner + ‘Bonus Bucks’” plan. All food is prepared by Amherst College Dining Services instead of a national or regional service. Students can enjoy a full range of menu choices—traditional fare, pizza, stir-fry, grill, deli, pasta, and salad bars. Menus offer fresh, natural, low-fat, vegetarian, and heart-healthy options, as well as kosher options at holidays. The Dining Services staff is happy to work with students with special dietary needs, and the dining hall has extended hours to accommodate a variety of student schedules. Lewis-Sebring Commons, located in the east end of Valentine, is open to faculty, staff and administrators, who may invite students to join them for meals at this smaller dining room.

   16. Fayerweather Hall

       Fayerweather was designed as a chemistry and physics building in the 1890s by the famous architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. The building underwent an $11 million renovation in 2002. The classic, brick Italian Renaissance Revival structure houses Amherst’s Department of Art and the History of Art, including the Eli Marsh Gallery, where many exhibitions of student and non-studentwork are held. The building includes photographic laboratories, sculpture studios, and working space for honors students on the lower level; a lecture hall and two large classrooms, which are fully media-equipped, on the first floor; a visual resources collection on the second floor; and spaces devoted to fixed-image study in the attic.

   17. Chapin Hall

       Chapin is a classroom building and the home of the History and Religion departments, as well as Chapin Chapel. Chapin Chapel is nondenominational, open to the college community. Religious activities in the chapel are organized by the staff of Religious & Spiritual Life.
       

   18. Beneski Hall and Museum of Natural History

       The Beneski, which opened in 2006 and houses the Geology Department, has received several architectural awards and features an innovative grouping of teaching spaces, research labs, and faculty offices. The museum contains three floors of exhibits and more than 1,700 individual specimens on display. The entrance floor features freestanding fossil skeletons, including a mammoth, mastodon, and saber-toothed cat.
       

   19. Science Center

       Our new Science Center opened in the fall of 2018. The 230,000 square-foot structure houses state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities for biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, biophysics, neuroscience, computer science, astronomy, psychology, math and statistics. It is in these labs that many science honors students pursue their independent research projects. Research facilities include several advanced laser labs, nuclear magnetic resonance machines, photospectrometers, and a mass spectrameter, all of which are available to students with the guidance of department professors. In addition, the Science Center houses the Keefe Science Library and the Moss Quantitative Center, where students can get assistance in quantitatively oriented disciplines, such as math, the sciences and economics. The building is designed, architecturally and programatically, to foster the increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary work among the sciences and the sharing of expertise and resources. At the center of the building you will find an winter garden, and throughout the space the design emphasises natural lighting and organic materials.

        

   20. Keefe Campus Center

       The Campus Center is one of the primary meeting places on campus. On its first floor are several meeting lounges, student mailboxes, Schwemm’s Coffee House, the Multicultural Resource Center, the Women’s and Gender Center, and the Center for Community Engagement. Posters and bulletin boards in the main atrium keep students aware of the lectures, performances, movies, meetings, and other events on campus. On the second floor are more lounges and study spaces, a game room, and a multi-purpose space called the Friedmann Room. The Campus Center also houses a movie theater and offices for several student organizations—including the student-run radio station (WAMH, 89.3 FM), the student newspaper (The Amherst Student), and the Student Activities Office, which supports students in developing social, cultural, and educational programs. Amherst has more than 100 student clubs and organizations, multiple publications, about 15 performance groups, 27 varsity sports teams, and many club and intramural athletic opportunities. Students have ample opportunity to get involved in various organizations or create their own student groups.

   21. King and Wieland Halls

       Walking from Keefe Campus Center (between the Mead Art Museum to your right and the Science Center to your left), you will have a view of two impressive modern buildings down the hill to the southeast. These upperclass student dormitories are King and Wieland Halls. Each building has only 15 single-occupant rooms per floor—the small floor plans combined with generous common spaces foster social gatherings and a sense of community.

   22. Mead Art Museum

       Amherst's Mead Art Museum houses more than 19,000 works from many cultures and historical periods. The Mead’s collection of American art is considered one of the finest and most varied in any academic institution. Other highlights of the Mead’s internationally renowned permanent collection include paintings by European Old Masters, ancient Assyrian carvings, Russian modern art, West African sculpture, and Mexican ceramics. With the recent addition of more than 2,500 Japanese woodblock prints, the Mead’s ranks as one of the major collections of ukiyo-e in the country.

   23. New Student Center & Dining Commons

       The New Student Center and the Dining Commons are two connected projects that will enhance the Amherst experience for our entire community. Using the structure of the existing Merrill Science Building, the Center will connect upper and lower campus, offering welcoming spaces for students, faculty, and staff to gather and interact across interests and affinities. Nothing is more important than creating a place where all members of our community can come together, forge connections, and make Amherst their own.

   24. Seeley G. Mudd Building

       Affectionately called “SMudd,” this building houses the departments of Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Science and the George D. Olds Mathematics Reading Room, as well as Information Technology offices. Classrooms are located on the ground floor; professors’ offices are located in the tower; and a journal collection and reading room are located on the top floor. On the lower floor is the Center for Creative Technology. This center and the nearby Webster Computer Classroom have more than 45 PC and Mac computer stations, plus scanners and printers for color laser, large-format, and duplex printing. Seeley Mudd also houses a 14-station Multimedia Lab, an audio production studio, a video production studio, and a 16-station Video Editing Lab. The Amherst network supports both wired and wireless connections. Wireless is available in all residence halls and all academic, administrative and student services buildings, as well as on the First-Year, Valentine and Pratt Quads.

   25. War Memorial

       Completed in 1946, the memorial and athletic fields adjacent to Memorial Hill were dedicated by John J. McCloy, Class of 1916, Assistant Secretary of War during World War II and U.S. High Commissioner to Germany following the war. The memorial bears the names of Amherst alumni who lost their lives in the various theaters of combat during World Wars I and II. With its commanding view of Memorial Field and the Holyoke Range, this location offers one of the most iconic and beloved vistas on the Amherst campus. It is here that graduating seniors begin their procession as part of the annual Commencement ceremony on the First-Year Quad.

   26. Aliki Perroti & Seth Frank Lyceum

       Opened in 2023, the Aliki Perroti & Seth Frank Lyceum is the home of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry (CHI) and the History Department. In addition to faculty and staff offices, the Lyceum includes the CHI Think Tank, multi-purpose classroom and seminar rooms, and the History Commons.
       
       The Lyceum consists of a mid-18th-century former residence at 197 South Pleasant Street and a new addition to the south and west. The Lyceum is Amherst's first building with an ambitious goal for zero embodied carbon, with mass-timber framing and careful consideration of the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and transporting materials.

   27. The Octagon

       If you take a right onto Route 116 as you leave the circular driveway from the Admission Office, you will see an octagon-shaped, yellow building on your right at the top of the hill. The Octagon was built in 1848 as an observatory. It now houses a classroom and offices, including the Gerald Penny ’77 Memorial Cultural Center of the Black Student Union.

   28. Converse Hall

       After you pass The Octagon on Rt. 116, you will approach another building on your right—Converse Hall. Converse was once Amherst’s main library (hence the inscription on the lintel), but now it is the main administration building, housing the Offices of the President, Dean of the Faculty, Registrar, Financial Aid, and Student Affairs. The Office of Student Affairs provides many services to assist students, including New Student Orientation, Class Dean advising for first-year and upperclass students, and programs for Residential Life and Health Education. Converse also houses classrooms and the Department of Economics. To the left of Converse is a small bus shelter. This is Amherst’s stop on the Five College bus service route. The bus is free during the school year and provides transportation to the other four schools in the area (Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst) seven days a week. Amherst students are free to enroll in courses, as well as attend and participate in activities and events, at the other colleges.

   29. College Hall

       As you reach the stoplight on the corner of Route 116 and Route 9, you will see a large yellow building on your left, College Hall. Originally a Congregational church, College Hall now houses the Offices of the Treasurer and Comptroller and the Career Center, offering a large resource library, computer stations, interview rooms, private advising rooms and a large conference space. The Career Center provides career counseling, job and internship opportunities, graduate- and professional-school advising, fellowships, international study and work programs, public interest programs and access to the Amherst Alumni Career Network and the Pathways Mentoring Program.

   30. Downtown Amherst

       Adjacent to Amherst's campus is downtown Amherst, a lively town with a variety of restaurants and coffee shops, an arthouse cinema, bookstores, and more. Learn more about town life. This is the last stop on our tour. Thank you for joining us! Questions? Check out our Admission and Visiting pages.