Mood-Bridwell is the second oldest building on today’s campus. Named in honor of the first president of Southwestern, Francis Asbury Mood, the building is in the Richardson Romanesque style constructed of limestone blocks quarried at the nearby Brushy Creek Quarry in Round Rock, TX. The Belford Lumber Company built the building, which cost $58,000. When it opened, the building held 80 bedrooms for male students and was the first building on campus with steam heat, electricity, and bathrooms on every floor. J. Frank Dobie and John G. Tower, perhaps Southwestern’s most famous alumni, lived in this dorm. Today, it houses faculty offices, classrooms, and areas for student support.
[Richardson Romanesque is a form of Romanesque architecture developed by Henry Hobson Richardson. It incorporates 11th and 12th-century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque characteristics. Richardson Romanesque was known for its eclectic style. It emphasizes clear, strong picturesque massing, round-headed "Romanesque" arches, often springing from clusters of short squat columns, recessed entrances, and cylindrical towers with conical caps embedded in the walling.]
