The present day South College was once both a dormitory as well as a laboratory, the building was originally built in 1867 but was then rebuilt in 1885 due to a fire that gutted the insides. The fire is believed to have been caused by the explosion of a kerosene burner for an egg incubator. South's sibling dorm, North College, was built in 1868 and housed around 64 students. The dormitory was then razed in 1955 to make room for Machmer Hall. Mills House became New Africa House. In the late 1940s, the University Apartments were built to provide housing for returning veterans. In the winter of 2009–2010, the buildings were torn down and the site was turned into a parking lot. Another complex of dorms was built for married couples, veterans and upperclassmen in the 1940s just across the street from where Southwest stands today. These "cinder block dorms", collectively known as County Circle, were named for five Massachusetts counties- Berkshire, Plymouth, Suffolk, Middlesex and Hampshire County. Of the five original buildings, only three (Middlesex House, Berkshire House and Hampshire House) remain. Currently Hampshire House is home to local NPR station WFCR, while Berkshire and Middlesex are used for storage and office space. Plymouth House and Suffolk House were torn down in the late 1960s to make way for Massachusetts Avenue, which runs between the complex and Southwest. Hills House, two 4-story buildings connected by a shared first floor lobby, was built as a Men's dorm in 1960. Seriously damaged by vandalism, it use as a dormitory was abandoned in 1969 and it was "temporally" used as academic space until being demolished in 2017.