In 1891 the Drury College board proposed that the next building for the Drury campus should be a girl's dormitory. The girls were at that time housed in Fairbanks Hall and needed a new Ladies Hall to better suit their needs. Fairbanks would then become a men's dormitory. In 1893 E.A. Goodnow of Worcester, Massachusetts, decided to give Drury College $10,000 toward a dormitory for girls. It was stipulated that the price of the dormitory was to be no less than $16,000 and it would be named the Delores McCullagh Cottage in honor of Mr. Goodnow's pastor's wife. The spelling of the name "McCullagh" is incorrect on the postcard

The girls of Fairbanks Hall immediately went out and chose their site from among Drury's 40 acres. It was a little north of Fairbanks Hall. In April of 1893 a different location was chosen to the east of Fairbanks Hall. The ground was broken at this site in May 1893. However, construction was postponed for a year and the site of the girl's dormitory was changed again. Finally, in September 1884 McCullagh Hall was opened, although it had no furniture. The Lady Principal decided to appeal to women for the money to furnish the dormitory. She made each room a memorial gift. Faculty ladies, wives of Trustees, church societies and individuals responded and on the day of its dedication, November 8, most of the building was furnished and occupied. In 1898 an annex was added to McCullagh Cottage. It contained four pianos and provided practice rooms for music students.

McCullagh Cottage stood as the only girl's dormitory at Drury until 1924, when a new dormitory was built. During World War II it was used as a barracks and was finally razed in 1969.

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