Return to the trail map.
Concordia Seminary
occupies 2,267 acres with 150 major buildings. The School of Medicine
is located at the east end of Forest Park, and the Danforth Campus is at
the west end of the park. Several of the buildings on the Danforth Campus
were erected around the time of the 1904 World's Fair, which was held in Forest
Park. Among these is a building named Cupples I, which presently houses
the Department of Mathematics. The cornerstone for Cupples I was laid on
May 11, 1901. The building was used during the Fair by the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Co. under the name of "Service Building," with an
anthropological exhibition of mummies in the basement. It was occupied
by the University in February, 1905. Beaumont Pavilion was added on the
south side of Cupples I in 1965 and is used for various outdoor events
at the University, including commencement ceremonies in May each year.
Cupples I and the Beaumont Pavilion form one side of a large quadrangle;
the other three sides are formed by other buildings dating from around
the time of the Fair, including the main administrative building of the
University, Brookings Hall. On the south side of Cupples I, behind the
Pavilion, there is a vertical sundial. It was donated to the
University by
the Class of 1908. Following is a quotation from the
November 25, 1908 issue of Washington University Student Life, which was
then and still is the campus newspaper:
"The new sun dial on Cupples I is now being put into position upon the
tablet on the south side of the building. The motto on
the dial is very appropriate. We quote it in full:
I am a shadow
So art thou;
I mark time
Dost thou?
It will be interesting to note the discrepancy between sun
time and standard time by comparing with the Varsity clock."
Varsity clock is a large time piece situated high on west wall of
Brookings Hall. Both it and the sundial are visible from within the
quadrangle. 2008 marks the one-hundred year anniversary of this
sundial.
Two additional sun-related objects are present on the Danforth
Campus of Washington University and may interest visitors who
come to see the sundial. One is the solar compass that is
shown in the picture at the lower left. It is
inlaid into the walkway at the western entrance to the building
that houses the Department of Earth and Planetary Science.
Besides markers for the cardinal directions, the compass has
markers that indicate the directions of the the solstices and
the equinoxes. However, the rising and setting of the sun
on these dates cannot be seen from the site of the compass due
to tall buildings that surround it. Inside the Earth and
Planetary Science building, near the western entrance, there is
a full scale model of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover.
It is in the picture at the lower right. Professor Raymond E. Arvidson, the McDonnell Distinguished
University Professor and chair of the Department of Earth and
Planetary Science, is the Mars Rover mission's deputy principal
scientist, and several postings within the building illustrate
his and
the University's participation in the mission.
For a map of the Danforth Campus, showing the location of
Beaumont Pavilion and the Department of Earth and Planetary
Science, click Tour Danforth Campus. To go to the next site on
the St. Louis Sundial Trail, click on
Site 9: Concordia Seminary, or to go to other sites
on the trail, return to the trail map.