Davenport Hall, until 1947, was know as the Agricultural Building. Construction of the building began in 1900 and was dedicated in 1901. At the time it was called the largest university building devoted to the study of agriculture in the United States. It occupied 2 acres, consisting of a main building that was 250 feet long, and two 116 feet long wings.
Back then it held space for dairy manufacturers, household science, farm machinery, veterinary science, stock judging, classrooms, laboratories, the state entomologist, the agricultural experiment station, and a 500-seat assembly room.
In 1947 the building was renamed in honor of Eugene Davenport, VP of the University of Illinois from 1920 to 1922 and the Dean of the College of Agriculture from 1895 to 1922.
Today, the building is filled with classrooms, offices, and laboratories devoted to geology, geography, anthropology, and chemical and biomolecular engineering.