I came across this photo of an off-campus boarding house for Jacksonville State University in Alabama, taken in 1905. This picture doesn’t come with any extra information except that it was on West College Street. The rest is up to our interpretation.
So many things about this situation are radically different from today, it’s hard to even imagine what it would be like to live there! It’s a bit like a halfway house between a dorm and an off-site apartment.
Far from an off-campus apartment today, it looks like these students lived with the older couple seated at the center of the photo. They probably provided meals as well as a bedroom for each boarder. I may be reading a lot into the picture, but I imagine there were strict rules about coming and going, how you dressed and conducted yourself, and possibly doing some chores. It’s also curious that the university had a professional, formal photograph made of this group.
What do you make of it?
From Jacksonville State University digital library
old spirituals 
I didn’t think co-ed dorms were around at that time, but it does look as if the older couple were dorm mom and dad.
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I definitely wouldn’t cross the “mom”! She looks like she means business.
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You can always create intrigue, Kimberly. The photo certainly causes one to speculate.
I know about Jacksonville State University in Alabama. It was started by the State of Alabama as a “Normal School” to train teachers. In 1905, most teachers were women, as evidenced by the number of women in the photo.
As I recall, College Street is not inside the Jacksonville State campus property. However, today, the University’s School of Business is bordered by College St. SW. I assume it is one and the same street. Most universities of the time did not have on campus housing (dormitories) and relied on private boarding houses and rental property to house students. Only when universities expanded and enrollment grew beyond the supply of private, off-campus housing did universities build dormitories. Thus, my guess is that this is a photo of an off-campus private boarding house for students. It is possible the University had a contract with the homeowner to offer room and board to students.
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Years of living in the South has instilled an appreciation for the culture in that region of the Country. Also, knowing Jacksonville, Alabama, West College Street is likely now College Street SW. The Jacksonville State School of Business is bordered on one side by that street.
In 1905, universities and college did not provide dormitories. Students lived in privately owned boarding housing. This may be a photo of the residents of one of those private boarding houses, perhaps that of a local minister and his spouse who imposed strict rules considering the co-ed residency.
Across the Country, as universities grew in enrollment and private boarding could not meet the demand, universities and college instituted on-campus housing, i.e. dormitories. For example, Jacksonville State University’s enrollment today is almost 10,000 students.
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