Old Main's Original Weather Vane

Karen Daniel (Ship Archivist)
In 2006 I got an email asking about Old Main’s original weather vane. The SU Foundation was thinking about developing some materials based on it. I discovered that the original weather vane was replaced during the renovation of Old Main in the early 1980s. A booklet requesting gifts, published by the Old Main Advisory Council states, “The present four-foot weather vane will be replaced with a beautiful 16-foot copper and brass weather vane including 12-inch diameter copper ball and a brass weather vane with 1871 stamped onto it.” In the booklet, Old Main, published in 1985 to celebrate the renovation, Charles Loucks writes, “A new brass and copper weather vane now tops off the tower… In keeping with the Classical Revival style…they [the Venturi architects] also gave the cupola its high-flying ‘1871’ weathervane.”

No one knew what had happened to the original weather vane. Then one day in 2009 Lance Bryson showed me a weather vane in the basement of Horton Hall. He thought it was the original Old Main weather vane, and I set out to determine if it was. And, indeed, it was, according to old photographs. The weather vane Lance found is four feet tall, with block letters N S E W. It was apparently hand-made of welded metal, which may be copper. There is a bullet hole in the fletch of the arrow. The weather vane shows the wear-and tear of 90 years out in all weather, since it was probably mounted on the cupola of Old Main when the building was first remodeled in 1895.

Now the weather vane is here in the Library and Learning Center where it will eventually be on display. People have always needed to know which way the wind blows to help make their plans. Our institution’s original weather vane will remind us that Shippensburg University continues to help us chart our course into the future.



For more information contact Karen Daniel at KADANI at ship.edu