Ervin Family

Carol Hall interior staircase, February 1968

Exterior of Carol Hall, 1980s

Carol Hall, 1988

Ervin Family

Married in 1883, Philadelphians Harry Clay Ervin (born on November 27, 1860) and his wife Mary Jeannette Sappington (born May 16, 1861) moved to Minnesota in 1887. They followed flour miller George Tileston to Fairbault. When Tileston opened a new mill in St. Cloud in 1888, Harry and Mary moved to the city, where Harry managed the mill. In 1902, Ervin purchased Wesley Carter's mill and renamed it the St. Cloud City Mills. Successful, the couple, along with their four children, began plans to build a new home. Despite the death of Harry on November 15, 1914, Mary went ahead with plans to construct a new home.

Unsure when Mary left the home, the Wheelock Whitney, Sr., family lived in the home from 1934 to 1936 when it was sold to St. Cloud State. Mary passed away December 8, 1947 in St. Cloud and is buried in North Star Cemetery alongside her husband Harry.

Ervin House (1936)

Designed by Minneapolis architects Tyrie and Chapman, the home was completed in late 1910s. St. Cloud State purchased the home in 1936 for $11,000. When the university took possession of the building in 1940, it was named Carol Hall by then St. Cloud State president George Selke in honor of his wife Carol. It served as a defacto student union until the 1942/43 academic year when it was occupied by Army Air Corp reserve pilots. By the fall of 1943, Carol Hall was used as a dormitory until 1972 when it was converted to office space. The home was renamed Ervin House in 2011 to honor the Ervin family.

For more information, see the individual profiles for Ervin House on the University Archives’ website.