Welcome back to our series exploring the University of Wyoming’s architectural legacy. Today, we’re exploring the fascinating history of Knight Hall, a building with a story that weaves together tales of pioneering women, Depression-era public works, and even a touch of the supernatural.
The story of Knight Hall begins with its namesake, Emma Howell Knight, UW’s first dean of women. Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1865, Emma’s path to Wyoming began when she met Wilbur Knight at the University of Nebraska. In 1892, they moved to Laramie when Wilbur took a job the following year teaching mining engineering and metallurgy at Wyoming University, as UW was then called. Emma and Wilbur had four children—Florence, b. 1890 (who later changed her name to Wilburta), Samuel H. Knight, b. 1892, Everett Knight, b. 1894 and Oliver Knight, b. 1901.
After Wilbur died unexpectedly of a ruptured appendix in 1903, Emma carved out her own remarkable career, serving as Albany County superintendent of schools while simultaneously completing her own education at UW. She graduated in 1911—in the same class as her daughter—and went on to become the university’s first full-time dean of women in 1918. Her students’ yearbook tribute of 1911 perhaps best captures her impact: “She has even routed the old idea that the dean of women should be the natural enemy of every male student. Now that’s going some.”
The building that would later bear her name began taking shape in 1940, during the tail end of the Great Depression. President Arthur Crane championed its construction not just as a dormitory but as a solution to campus dining needs, replacing the old commons with a new cafeteria. Constructed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the red stone building emerged as a testament to both federal relief efforts and collegiate architectural tradition. UW students contributed directly to its construction, cutting stones from a quarry northeast of Laramie. Designed by architect Wilber Hitchcock in the Collegiate Gothic style, the building’s central core was completed in 1941, with its western wing following five years later.
Life in Knight Hall reflected the strict social norms of its era. All women dormitory students were required to eat in its cafeteria, with failure to pay board fees potentially resulting in suspension. The building’s importance to campus life became even more apparent in September 1946, when the flood of returning World War II veterans created such a housing crisis that the fall term’s start had to be delayed. The University pressed every available space into service, including Knight Hall’s lounges and hallways.
The 1960s brought dramatic social changes to campus life. Female students increasingly resisted the nightly room checks by the dean of women, designed to prevent them from “staying out all night or sneaking around.” By 1969, these restrictions began to ease, with upperclassmen finally permitted to live off-campus. This new freedom, combined with national trends, led to emptying dormitories. By 1971, the Branding Iron reported 800 vacant dorm rooms across campus, prompting the closure of Knight Hall’s cafeteria and its conversion to office space.
Beyond these administrative changes, Knight Hall would become known for something far more unsettling. During excavation, workers unearthed five bodies, several bearing evidence of bullet wounds. These grim discoveries weren’t entirely surprising—the building stands on what was twice a cemetery. The land first served as a relocated burial ground in 1873, when inmates from the territorial prison moved bodies from the original cemetery under Sheriff Tom Dayton’s supervision. In 1886, the cemetery was moved again to make way for the university, though records suggest not all remains made it to their final resting place at Greenhill Cemetery. This was confirmed in 2004 when crews laying new pipe west of Knight Hall encountered yet another body.
Today, Knight Hall houses various university offices and serves as home to Wyoming Public Radio, which moved its studios to the building’s basement in 1977. The station, tracing its roots back to Wyoming’s first radio station KFBU, has broadcast from this location ever since, though some say they’re not the building’s only occupants. Reports of paranormal activity—from mysterious food aromas to unexplained sounds and moving objects—have earned Knight Hall a reputation as the campus’s most haunted building. A 2012 investigation by Haunted Xplorations even concluded that the building hosts “one or more non-hostile, yet intelligent, spirits.”
Walk through Knight Hall today and you’ll feel layer upon layer of history. The red stone walls that WPA workers carefully assembled during the Great Depression have witnessed it all: young women hurrying to meet curfew, students protesting restrictive rules, radio hosts delivering the evening news, and yes, maybe even a ghost rearranging papers on someone’s desk.
Want to See How Other Campus Buildings Have Changed?
Knight Hall’s journey from strict women’s dormitory to modern office space is just one example of how UW buildings have adapted over the decades. If you enjoyed learning about Knight Hall’s transformation, you’ll like our virtual exhibit “Keeping History Alive: 136 Years of Progress.” We’ve paired historic photos from our collections with more recent campus shots to show how university life has evolved since 1887. It’s fascinating to see how these old buildings have found new purposes while keeping their stories alive. For additional perspectives on campus development and architecture, explore our exhibit “University of Wyoming: A Brief History of Campus.”
