Matthew J. Walsh decided to build Saint Edward's Hall in 1882 to house the boarding school for the minims program, ages six to thirteen, which was growing and reached a population of a 100 in 1883. The hall was designed by Charles Harding, C.S.C, in Notre Dame yellow brick in French style, with a Mansard roof and named after Edward Sorin's patron saint. The cornerstone was laid on 20 April 1882 by Sorin himself. It had dormitories, classrooms, recreation rooms, refectory, and a manicured lawn in front of the building. An annex was built on the east side of the hall in 1898 to make room for a gym, a roller skating rink, and more classrooms. In 1925, Knute Rockne received his First Holy Communion in the Chapel of Saint Edward the Confessor. In 1929 president Charles L. O’Donnell decided to abandon the boarding school program, and the hall was converted into an undergraduate residence hall (since the college population was growing and space badly needed) under the direction of professor and architect Vincent Fagan in June 1929. The open dormitory was converted into double rooms, while the chapel was left untouched, and it opened in September to house 207 undergraduates. The hall's first rector was Raymond Clancy, C.S.C. The building annex was demolished to make space for Zahm Hall in 1937. The facade received minor renovations in 1976.