American Missionaries in Beirut, 19thc
Zuqāq al-Balāṭ: Where Beirut Learned
In the early decades of the nineteenth century, the American Protestant Mission was first established in Beirut, when the city was still confined within its ancient walls. Seeking cleaner air, open space, and a quieter environment than that offered by the crowded quarters of the old city, the missionaries chose to reside in Zuqāq al-Balāṭ, a semi-rural suburb on the southwestern edge of Beirut. The district, whose name means “the paved lane,” was known for its elegant houses and lush gardens, and soon became home to several foreign residents and prominent local families.
Several American missionaries’ intuitions were established in the area, founding a girls’ school, a boys’ school, the American Mission Press and a Church were also established in this neighborhood, which made Zuqāq al-Blaṭ as Jens Hanssen has written, the “education quarter” that made Beirut “the school of the Arabs” in late 19th- and early 20th-century Ottoman Syria.
The most significant missionary institution, however, was the Syrian Protestant College (SPC)—later the American University of Beirut (AUB) founded by Daniel Bliss in same quarters in 1866.
Its earliest classes were held first in the house of Butrus al-Bustani (1866–1868), then in the house of ʿAbd al-Fattah Hamadeh (1868–1870), before moving again to a larger building owned by the Darwish family (1871–1873).
Alongside these missionary institutions, local schools and cultural societies flourished in Zuqāq al-Balāṭ, making the neighborhood a vibrant hub of intellectual and social activity. Over time, the district distinguished itself through its aristocratic character, marked by the grand qusūr (palaces) of prominent families, around which clustered the modest homes of those who served or were affiliated with them. Yet its true distinction lay in its role as a beacon of learning and enlightenment in the region, following the founding of the National School by Boutros al-Bustani, a pioneer promoter of education, which radiated the spirit of science and knowledge throughout the Arab world. The SPC founding fathers cooperated with Butrus al Bustani and arranged that the pupils completing their course of study in his school would be admitted to the College. In this way al Madrasa al Wataniyah served as a SPC preparatory department.
Ras Beirut: A Permanent College on the Coast
From the very beginning, Daniel Bliss dreamed of securing a permanent home for his college—one that would end its reputation as a “school on wheels,” since it had already changed locations three times within five years. Determined to find a lasting site, Bliss explored the outskirts of Beirut until he set his heart on Ras Beirut, a place he believed offered the ideal setting for the future university. After lengthy negotiations, he finally purchased the first plot of land where College Hall would later rise. At the time, many Beirutis thought he had lost his senses for investing in property so far from the city.
Construction of the new campus soon began, and on December 7, 1871, the cornerstone of the Main Building (College Hall) was laid by William E. Dodge, Sr., Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. By 1873, four buildings were completed, the Main Building, Medical Hall, and Ada Dodge Memorial and the observatory. “At last,” Bliss wrote in his memoirs, “we had become a real College community with a home of our own.” That same year marked the establishment of the Preparatory Department, which initiated a period of significant growth. The School of Pharmacy, first organized in 1871 as part of the Medical Department, began offering classes in 1873 with three students enrolled in first-year pharmacy—a two-year program taught in Arabic.
By the early 1870s, as the campus took shape, many faculty members and missionaries relocated to this newly developing area. The first residences were modest stone houses built near the college grounds—around what would later become Bliss Street.
Dr. Harvey Porter described the campus in his "Remembrances of Beirut Fifty Years Ago," published in 1920, "the [college] site was on the outskirts of Beirut, a scrubby, desert place on the shores of the Mediterranean. There was no carriage road to it and very few dwellings. Professors had to find residence in the city far from the college campus”[1]
In the following decades, additional homes were built within the college compound to accommodate faculty families and administrators.
By the end of the 19th century and into the early decades of the 20th, Ras Beirut had become a distinctly American enclave within the expanding city. Its tree-lined lanes, spacious villas, and gardens overlooking the Mediterranean gave it a character both serene and cosmopolitan. Prominent figures such as Daniel Bliss, Howard Bliss, Bayard Dodge, and George Post lived on or near the university campus, along the sea or in the surrounding hills. Streets like Bliss, Makhoul, Qantari, and Clemenceau became closely tied to the American presence in Beirut. The neighborhood’s architecture reflected a unique synthesis of local stone craftsmanship and Western design, symbolizing the meeting of two worlds.