 The building was meant as a memorial to his grandfather, Marcellus Hartley, the owner of Remington Arms, who died during Dodge's sophomore year and who bequeathed him the family fortune.Dodge hoped to create “the commencement of a true dormitory system" at Columbia.Construction began on Hartley Hall in 1904 and it opened in tandem with Livingston Hall in 1905, welcoming students with its lobby of marble and oak.