The History of McGill University's Buildings

Description

Dilcoosha, a Hindustani word meaning "The Heart's Delight", was built on the corner of Sherbrooke and McTavish Streets for Jesse Joseph, an entrepreneur who had interests in several Canadian companies. The mansion was designed in an exotic style called Egyptian Renaissance and possessed a lavish interior. In 1904, Joseph died and in 1909, Sir William Macdonald, always a true friend to the University, purchased the house and presented it to McGill. During the first World War, Dilcoosha served as a headquarters for the COTC, who used the long upstairs hall as a target range. After the War, in 1919, McGill inherited in full the collections of David McCord, a municipal lawyer and avid acquirer of rare objects associated with Canadian history. This assemblage is known today as the McCord Museum of Canadian History. Dilcoosha, then vacant, was an ideal place to house and display the Canadian artifacts and so the McCord Museum came into being. In 1955, Dilcoosha was demolished as a result of several structural problems and the McCord Museum was moved to the Hodgeson House on Drummond and Dr. Penfield. Today, the McLennan Library, erected in 1967, stands on the site of Joseph's old mansion and the McCord Museum resides in the Old Student Union Building, designed by Percy Erskine Nobbs, on Sherbrooke Street.