The Rock House was located just to the west of the War Memorial Chapel on the Drillfield. The Rock House, built prior to 1880, was once the residence of Professor William Bradford Alwood – vice-director of the agricultural experiment station and head and professor of horticulture, mycology, and entomology from 1888 to 1904. It was later converted to house the offices of the administration and the commandant’s headquarters. The house burned on a blustery February night in 1900 destroying many of the records of the college. It was rebuilt to again house administrative offices and was occupied as Administrative Building #1 from April 1904 to 1936, when the offices moved into today’s Burruss Hall. The building was razed in 1950. When it was torn down some of its stones were used to build part of the War Memorial. If you look closely at the outside walls of the War Memorial, those stones are not your garden variety Hokie Stone. Some are sandstone and some have plaster and burn marks, which tie them to the old Rock House.

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