Campus Pathways and Roads

Establishing cement walkways on Northern Arizona Normal School's campus began in the late 1910s. Before this, wooden plank sidewalks often came loose and floated away after spring snowmelts or summer monsoons. Children attending the training school sometimes used them as rafts on the muddy waters of the unpaved streets.

In 1921, the school relocated the tennis courts in front of Old Main to construct McMullen Circle. This remained the main thoroughfare throughout the heyday of North Campus. The North Quad roadways are only slightly different today, though they remained unpaved until after World War II.

Parking is an increasingly controversial issue on campus. In 2006, the removal of meters along the southern edge of McMullen Circle limited parking on north campus to those with permits. In 2011, the University renovated the North Quad, removing the Circle entirely and adding a larger sidewalk that doubles as a fire lane. Parking in the vicinity of historic north campus is now limited to street spaces on the periphery and one parking lot next to Morton Hall.