The Little Building, which sits at the corner of
Boylston Street and
Tremont Street in downtown
Boston, Massachusetts is oddly enough the largest building on the campus of
Emerson College. Housing 750 Emerson students as well as holding the school's main cafeteria, bookstore, a convenience store, Emerson Cafe, a fitness center the Student Administrative Services service center, offices of Continuing Education, External Programs, Athletics, Public Safety and Public Affairs.
The building was named after John Mason Little, who as a builder and financer was a strong force in making Boston the great place to live that it is today. It was built in 1917 in the old location of the Hotel Pelham, which was the first apartment-hotel on the east coast. The Little Building first served as a non-residential office building consisting of various shops and businesses. It held 600 offices, 15 stores, 22 shops, a post office, restaurants (including an automat in the basement), a subway entrance and corridors to nearby theaters in Boston's Theatre District neighborhood.
In 1994, Emerson College purchased the building and used it as a dormitory. It remains that way today.
While Emerson College has other residences on Beacon Street and Arlington Street, most students will agree that The Little Building is the most comfortable, most convienant and most happening residence hall on the college's rather small eleven building urban campus.