O'Kane Hall College of the Holy Cross - Worcester MA
O’Kane Hall is one of the signature historic buildings at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Together with neighboring Fenwick Hall, it forms the iconic architectural “front door” of the campus at the end of Linden Lane.
O’Kane Hall was built in 1895 and attached to the older Fenwick Hall complex, the original Holy Cross building dating from 1843. It was designed by the architectural firm Fuller & Delano.
The building is named for Rev. John J. O’Kane, S.J., a Jesuit president of Holy Cross in the late 19th century. Its construction reflected Holy Cross’s growth during a period when American Catholic higher education was expanding rapidly.
Architecturally, O’Kane Hall is notable for its stone tower and clock, which help define the classic Holy Cross skyline seen from Worcester and from the lower campus.
The building blends with Fenwick Hall’s historic architectural vocabulary - a mixture of Collegiate Gothic, Second Empire, and late-19th-century institutional styles. The Fenwick–O’Kane area is important enough historically that it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
