Jarvis Scientific Laboratory
Jarvis Scientific Laboratory served as the home to the chemistry and physics departments from its completion in 1888 to its demolition in 1963. It stood in the area of the present Austin Arts Center.
The Jarvis Scientific Laboratory, also referred to as the Jarvis Hall of Science, was designed in an early French Romanesque style by Josiah Cleaveland Cady, the architect of St. Anthony Hall, through the generous contribution of $30,000 by Mr. George A. Jarvis. It was built on Trinity's then-south campus and was comprised of two floors and a basement. The Physics Department occupied the first floor and held a lecture room, a general laboratory, and several rooms for special work in optics and electricity. The second floor was home to the Chemistry Department, consisting of the chemical lecture room and laboratory. The basement had a battery room, an engine room, and a workshop. The building was also afforded an $11,000 endowment to be used for other expenses by Mr. Junius S. Morgan and Mr. Walter Keney, with an additional $5,000 gift to the Physics Department by Dr. T. Matlack Cheesman, in memory of his son, the late Professor Cheesman.
Jarvis Laboratory allowed Trinity to adequately accommodate the growing student body's interest in the sciences, as it was furnished with all the necessary equipment to perform the most advanced work in the respective fields of physics and chemistry during the 20th century. For many years, the building supplied the scientific communities of Trinity with a reputable building to conduct intense research and experiments, but during the late 1920s, many began to take notice of the outdated facilities and called for the construction of a more modern building. This led to the construction of the Clement Chemistry Building, completed in 1936. The Chemistry Department then moved to the new building, and the Jarvis Hall of Science became known as the Jarvis Physics Laboratory. Soon after, the building was deemed outmoded and ideas for constructing a new structure to house the Physics Department began in the late 1950s. After the plans to construct the Mathematics-Physics Building (now known as the McCook Academic Building) were solidified, a project to level the laboratory and put a new building that could better match the aesthetics of the campus was set into motion.
In the summer of 1963, Jarvis Laboratory was demolished to make space for the Austin Arts Center. The laboratory had stood for 75 years, and it was reported that many members of the Trinity community were sad to see it go but looked forward to all the possibilities that the new building would hold for the College.
Sources
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century 2000 by Peter and Anne Knapp, p. 45.
Trinity College Alumni Magazine, 11/1963.
Trinity Tablet, 02/25/1888.
Catalogue of Trinity College, 1888-89 (Officers and Students), 1888.
Trinity Tablet, 10/08/1887.
Trinity Tablet, 06/11/1887.
Catalogue of Trinity College, 1887-88 (Officers and Students), 1887.