| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision |
| old_gymnasium [2026/07/22 20:18] – bant07 | old_gymnasium [2026/07/23 19:21] (current) – bant07 |
|---|
| The old gymnasium was built in the fall of 1871 in order to support the [[athletics|Trinity Boat Club's]] need for training space and indoor calisthenics ((Trinity Tablet, May 1871)). The "large barn-like structure" ((Trinity Tablet, June 22, 1903)) was moved to the [[summit_campus|Summit Street]] campus North of [[jarvis_hall|Jarvis Hall]] in 1878, where it stood until it burned down on May 13, 1896, nearly 10 years after [[alumni_hall|Alumni Hall]] was completed. | The old gymnasium was built in the fall of 1871 in order to support the [[athletics|Trinity Boat Club's]] need for training space and indoor calisthenics ((Trinity Tablet, May 1871)). The "large barn-like structure" ((Trinity Tablet, June 22, 1903)) was moved to the [[summit_campus|Summit Street]] campus North of [[jarvis_hall|Jarvis Hall]] in 1878, where it stood until it burned down on May 13, 1896, nearly 10 years after [[alumni_hall|Alumni Hall]] was completed. |
| |
| [{{ :34654290.jpg?400|Wooden building near Summit Street ca. 1885, possibly the old gymnasium. Photo credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.34654290|Trinity College Archives]]}}] | [{{ :34654290.jpg?400|Wooden structure that may be the only photograph of the old gymnasium, matching [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.32704259|one student's description]] in an 1894 //Trinity Tablet//.}}] |
| |
| ===== Background ===== | ===== Background ===== |
| |
| ===== New Campus ===== | ===== New Campus ===== |
| | [{{:screenshot_2026-07-23_151116.png?400 |Approximate location of the old gymnasium (circled). By 1900, it is gone.}}] |
| |
| {{:detail_of_burges-seaburyhall_trinity-1880.jpg?400 |This author estimates this building to be the "old gymnasium."}} | The old gymnasium was the only building from the old campus that moved to the new Summit Street location. In December 1878, it was dismantled and re-erected "at the north end of the Campus, fronting [[vernon_street|Vernon Street]], a little to the east of the line of the main buildings." ((Trinity Tablet, December 1878 Supplement.)) It is unclear from photographs exactly where it was located, but it was somewhere between the [[long_walk|Long Walk]] and the [[smith_house|Smith House]]. Over the next twenty years, the Old Gym was harassed and vandalized by students who used its windows for snowball target practice and painted graffiti on its sides, considering it a "blot to the landscape" or "a huge decayed coffin...so out of keeping with the beauties of our College campus." ((Trinity Tablet, March 17, 1894.)) |
| |
| The old gymnasium was the only building from the old campus that moved to the new Summit Street location. In December 1878, it was dismantled and re-erected "at the north end of the Campus, fronting [[vernon_street|Vernon Street]], a little to the east of the line of the main buildings." ((Trinity Tablet, December 1878 Supplement.)) | There were also varied and often conflicting descriptions of the old gymnasium. |
| |
| After Alumni Hall's construction, the old gym was used for varied purposes, namely as Estabrook waiters' living quarters, a student reading room for newspapers and magazines, as a classroom and office by the Professor of Modern Languages, and for instruction in mechanical drawing. | [{{:35150631.jpeg?400 |Students stand on the ruins of the old gymnasium, 1896. Photo Credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.35150631|Trinity College Archives]]}}] |
| |
| At about 2:30 a.m. on May 13, 1896, College students and faculty discovered the north end of the old gymnasium in flames; the fire department arrived too late to save the building. While watching it burn to the ground, students "gave vent to their appreciation of the sight by cheers and general rejoicing," ((Trinity Tablet, May 1896)) but by late morning were regretful at the loss of the "old landmark" that was also a substantial financial loss to the College due to a lack of insurance. | After Alumni Hall's construction in 1887, the old gym was used for varied purposes, namely as Estabrook waiters' living quarters, a student reading room for newspapers and magazines, as a classroom and office by the Professor of Modern Languages, and for instruction in mechanical drawing. |
| |
| [{{:35150631.jpeg?400|Students stand on the ruins of the old gymnasium, 1896. Photo Credit: [[https://www.jstor.org/stable/community.35150631 |Trinity College Archives]]}}] | At about 2:30 a.m. on May 13, 1896, College students and faculty discovered the north end of the old gymnasium in flames; the fire department arrived too late to save the building. While watching it burn to the ground, students "gave vent to their appreciation of the sight by cheers and general rejoicing," ((Trinity Tablet, May 1896)) but by late morning were regretful at the loss of the "old landmark" that was also a substantial financial loss to the College due to a lack of insurance. |
| |
| After the old gym burned down, an exact replica was built to the south of [[seabury_hall|Seabury Hall]] and was called "Martin Hall" after French Professor Winifred R. Martin. In 1902, "Martin Hall" was replaced by a commons building that was called "[[stickney_hall|Stickney Hall]]." | After the old gym burned down, an exact replica was built to the south of [[seabury_hall|Seabury Hall]] and was called "Martin Hall" after French Professor Winifred R. Martin. In 1902, "Martin Hall" was replaced by a commons building that was called "[[stickney_hall|Stickney Hall]]." |
| | |
| ===== Errors ===== | ===== Errors ===== |
| |
