Originally known as "Main Building," Holladay Hall was the first building on campus and housed virtually the entire university. Designed by noted Baltimore architect Charles L. Carson and completed in 1889,... Originally known as "Main Building," Holladay Hall was the first building on campus and housed virtually the entire university. Designed by noted Baltimore architect Charles L. Carson and completed in 1889, it was renamed in 1915 after Alexander Quarles Holladay. Holladay, a Confederate Civil War veteran who also served in the Virginia Senate, had originally applied for a position teaching English, but was instead appointed as the university's first president. He served from 1889 to 1899.