Dauer Hall's east facade windows were finished in 1938

Dauer Hall is a historic building on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida, designed by Rudolph Weaver in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style. Dauer Hall was built in 1936, but because the Great Depression caused a shortage of funds, the building took several years to construct. One notable result of this delay was that the distinctive stained glass windows on the east facade were not placed until 1938.

Originally called the Florida Union, the building served as a vibrant social hub housing a bookstore, small library, hotel, soda fountain, banquet hall, and ballroom. It also contained a chapel, game room, "sundry ship," and student organization offices. Officers of the student newspaper, the Florida Alligator, were located in the basement of the building. At different times, part of the second floor was used by the Religion Department and the YMCA.

The western wing contains the Keene Faculty Center, which was built in the late 1930s as a banquet hall connected to the Florida Union. It featured chandeliers left over from the construction of University Auditorium. During World War II, Army officer trainees used the banquet hall as a mess hall before the room became known as the Florida Union Social Room.

The Florida Union moved to a new building in 1967. The building was then renamed the Arts and Sciences Building when it was given to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It was renamed Dauer Hall in 1975 in honor of Manning J. Dauer, the longtime chairman of the political science department. Today, the building is used by the Astronomy Department.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons