Jot Travis Student Union and Manzanita Lake, ca. 1959

Manzanita Lake is in the foreground while a man walks on the sidewalk below the Jot Travis Student Union's Dining Commons in the background with Juniper Hall and White Pine Hall in the background (left). The Jot Travis Student Union was built in 1958 as the first student center on campus. The building became home to the Davidson Academy when the new student center, the Joe Crowley Student Union, was opened in 2007. Manzanita Lake was made by damning up the irrigation "Orr Ditch" that still runs through parts of the university today. Originally a man-made rancher's pond, the lake came into existence with the help of Donor Clarence Mackay in 1911 as part of the university's beautification mission.