The first home of the Abbot Female Seminary, Abbot Hall is an exceptional early Greek Revival building. Possibly inspired by Charles Bulfinch's Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (1818), Abbot Hall is a very early example of what became typical of Greek Revival style public and institutional buildings around the United States during the 1830s and 1840s. The architect of Abbot Hall is unknown as are details about the suppliers or the masons. Records indicate that David Hidden of Newburyport was master builder and that William Saunders of Cambridge fabricated the Ionic columns that support the front portico. The building faced School Street when it was first erected. There was a large central room on the first floor and a recitation room on either side.The room on the north side was for the children, and that on the south side was for the older scholars. The back piazza was added during the period of Asa Farwell's leadership, 1842-1852. In 1875 an observatory dome on the top of the building was added to accommodate a telescope purchased that year for approximately $2,400. The Academy Building, estimated at the time to weigh 900 tons, was moved to its present location in the summer of 1888. In 1890 the name was officially changed to Abbot Hall in honor of the Academy's first benefactor. Around 1900 the building was remodeled to make it a science building so that the common usage of Graves Hall with Phillips Academy boys could be discontinued. Further renovations were accomplished in 1906-1908 to provide a larger observatory. In 1907 the Boston firm Andrews, Jacques, & Rantoul added a museum, the John-Esther Art Gallery, to the east end of Abbot Hall to house art studios and an art collection donated by Esther Byers. Since its founding, Abbot Academy had offered drawing and painting classes. Following the merger with Phillips Academy in 1973, the building became idle. From 1978 to 1990 Abbot Hall housed the Northeast Document Conservation Center. In 1997 Abbot Hall was restored as part of Phillips Academy's renewal and rededication of the Abbot Circle.
At the west side of Abbot Circle is Draper Hall, the central element of the 1886 Hartwell & Richardson master plan for the Abbot Academy campus. Hartwell & Richardson was a prominent, late 19th-century Boston architectural firm, its designs heavily influenced by the work of Henry Hobson Richardson (though William C. Richardson was not related to him). Their master plan for Abbot Academy was similar to one proposed for the Harvard University campus a few years earlier. Draper Hall was one of the firm's largest commissions, and it was this grand scale that made the building a major landmark. Draper Hall was named after its principal donors, Warren F. Draper (1818-1905), Abbot Academy trustee, Phillips Academy class of 1843, and Andover Theological Seminary class of 1850, and his wife, Irene Rowley Draper, Abbot Academy class of 1843. The original L-shaped building, designed in a Romanesque style, housed a multiplicity of functions: dormitory suites, dining rooms, kitchen, laundries, servants' quarters, a library, reading room, parlors, offices, the principal's suite, art studios, and eleven music rooms. After Abbot Academy's merger with Phillips Academy in 1973, the building stood empty for twenty years. By 1994 the south wing could not be saved. The main section of the building was restored by Finegold Alexander & Associates Inc. to its original appearance with a new, three-story oriel on the west facade where the wing had been. The interior was renovated for faculty housing and administrative offices.
Named in honor of Philena McKeen, principal of Abbot Academy from 1859 to 1892, this building was central to the academy's attempt to enlarge the campus following the master plan of 1886. It completed the Abbot Circle, the heart of the campus. The sparse ornamentation on the exterior is likely due to a restricted budget and an effort by the architects (Hartwell, Richardson, & Driver) to design a modern building, which would be compatible with the unfashionable Romanesque style of Draper Hall. McKeen incorporated the Davis Memorial Hall, an auditorium and gymnasium. For years after the merger of Abbot Academy and Phillips Academy, McKeen was used for storage. The interior was renovated in the early 1990s and now houses administrative offices of Phillips Academy and a community day care center.
Samaritan House was built in 1824 on Chapel Avenue (where Cochran Chapel now stands) and was moved to the intersection of Main and School Streets in 1929. The Samaritan Female Society of Andover and vicinity erected this building as an infirmary for Andover Theological Seminary and Phillips Academy students who were ill, particularly those who could not afford medical attention.
Double Brick was originally built to house academy students. Architect William Sparrell made something of a specialty of designing row houses in Boston. Later than many of the houses on Faculty Row (west side of Main Street), Double Brick is an example of a transitional Federal to Greek revival style structure that was common in urban areas of Massachusetts. The basic gable roof design with end chimneys is Federal in style, but the double recessed entry framed with granite piers and lintels is a Greek revival feature.
The Robert S. Peabody Institute is one of the country's foremost museums of Native American archaeology. It is located on the Phillips Academy campus and serves as teaching resource for the academy students. The Peabody was Guy Lowell's first architectural commission for Phillips Academy. The design included all the classic features of Lowell's Ecole des Beaux-Arts and MIT training. It was extremely unusual for a preparatory school to have its own department of archaeology with international connections and a building to house a major collection. From the start, the museum found it difficult to reconcile fieldwork and research with classroom teaching The museum's strength lies in artifacts from the southeast, southwest, northeast, midwest, Mexico and the arctic. In terms of age, the artifacts range from 10,000 years to today. Though its focus is on North American cultures, it also has a collection of European paleo-indian stone tools. The largest collection—numbering 25,000 artifacts—comes from Pecos Pueblo, New Mexico, during excavations between 1915 and 1929. The museum also has an extensive library and archives, housing glass plates negatives, original field notes, field maps and other materials. Today the Peabody is a highly regarded museum and a leader in the repatriation of Native American cultural artifacts. Like the Addison gallery of American Art, the Peabody serves both the public and Phillips Academy.
Phelps House is the best example on campus of a house being tailored to a specific client. Reverend Edward Dorr Griffin was a prominent orator and preacher in Newark, New Jersey, and a theologian the trustees sought to hire for the new Andover Theological Seminary. No expense was spared in building what Griffin considered an appropriate house.William Bartlet not only endowed Griffin's position at the seminary but also paid for his new residence on Faculty Row.
Directly across Salem Street from the Memorial Bell Tower, the Great Lawn, originally the "Seminary Common," extends to Chapel Avenue. This space has remained open since the academy was founded. Originally a swampy meadow in front of Seminary Row, it was gradually improved in the 1810s and 1820s. The construction of Foxcroft, Pearson, and Bartlet Halls involved the creation of a terrace, which was enclosed by granite bollards linked by chain in 1821.
Along with Pearson and Bartlet Halls, Foxcroft Hall was erected for the newly founded Andover Theological Seminary. The building was originally named Phillips Hall in honor of Phoebe Foxcroft Phillips, widow of Academy founder Samuel Phillips Jr., and their son John, who donated funds for its construction. It was built as a four-story, brick structure with a symmetrical facade. Modeled after collegiate architecture at Brown, Yale, and Princeton, it included dormitory rooms for thirty students, classrooms, and a chapel. In 1870 and again in 1912, structural problems in the east wall required extensive rebuilding and loss of much of the historic fabric. In 1929 the fourth floor was removed so that Foxcroft would conform to the architecture of the new buildings on the quadrangle. The original entrances with lunettes, stone lintels, and sills remain.
Paid for by strict Calvinist William Bartlet (1747-1841), a Newburyport shipowner, merchant, and textile manufacturer, Bartlet Hall was built in 1821 as a second dormitory and mate to Foxcroft. Modest Federal details, including recessed entries with lunettes and paneling, a cornice with modillions, four large square chimneys, windows with multi-pane lights, and splayed brownstone lintels, survive extensive remodeling. In 1914 the building was completely gutted by fire and rebuilt. In 1929, Bartlet, like Foxcroft, was lowered to harmonize with surrounding architecture. Bartlet and Foxcroft remain dormitories.
Charles Bulfinch designed Pearson Hall, the second building in Seminary Row. The building was originally named for its donor, William Bartlet of Newburyport, one of the founders of Andover Theological Seminary. It housed a sanctuary and library as well as classrooms for the seminarians and was known as Bartlet Chapel. It was later renamed Pearson Hall in honor of Eliphalet Pearson, the first principal of Phillips Academy and the major force behind the seminary. The Newburyport bricks, 12-over-12 pane windows, sandstone lintels, sills, keystones, and cornerblocks are original. Bulfinch stipulated marble details on all four facades, but, for economy's sake, Bartlet, who had almost complete control of the construction, replaced the marble with sandstone. Nothing remains of Bulfinch's interior because, in 1875, the building was remodeled, and a clock tower was added. In 1922 architect Guy Lowell restored Pearson to its original appearance with a recreated cupola, cornice, and balustrade. It was also moved back and turned 90 degrees at the south end of the Greener Quadrangle. Pearson Hall is now a classroom building.
In 1928 architect Charles Platt designed the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library to house the burgeoning collection of books accumulated by the academy. The library had outgrown Brechin Hall, which it had inherited from Andover Theological Seminary, and Platt wanted to eliminate Brechin as part of his grand scheme for the central campus. The library's original primary facade presides over the Great Lawn and faces west toward Main Street. Constructed of brick, with stone details and double-hung wood sash windows, the design of the two-story building is consistent with the vocabulary chosen by Platt and Guy Lowell before him to harmonize with the original architecture of Seminary Row. There have been three renovations to the library, most recently in 2018-2019.
The Bell Tower was erected in 1923 at the corner of Salem and Main Street as a memorial to Phillips Academy alumni who had lost their lives in World War I. It is now a landmark, the first glimpse of Academy Hill as one approaches Andover from the south. It was designed by architect Guy Lowell of Boston.
Bulfinch Hall was the third main academy building. For many years the building was considered the work of Boston architect Charles Bulfinch, but a recent discovery firmly attributes it to architect-builder Asher Benjamin. Historian David Chase found documentation among Phillips Academy treasurer records of a $15 payment to Benjamin for a "Plan of Acad" in May 1818. The payment was likely for a drawing of the exterior only.
Across Salem Street from the Flagstaff Quad, the Shuman Admission Center incorporates one of the academy's oldest structures with one of its newest. The building has a long history of renovation. In 1801 the trustees purchased a small cottage from Captain Asa Towne expanded it for academy purposes during the next few years.
The first record of a legal transaction with local Native people was the 1646 purchase of the town of Andover. Part of the Andover agreement ensured that Roger, who may have been Pennacook, was given certain rights to live in town. Rogers Brook bears his name.
The housing of all the Phillips Academy boys in dormitories and the elimination of boarding houses created the need for a central dining facility for the entire academic community by the 1920s. Paresky Commons, designed by architect Charles Platt and constructed by Thompson Starrett (both of New York City), completed the Flagstaff Quadrangle. In 1980 a student center and snack bar were added in the basement for less than $2 million. A more substantial renovation of Commons occurred in 2007.
Between its beginnings in 1954 and 1977, the Society for the Propagation of Japanese Cherry Trees planted more than 100 cherry trees on Phillips Academy's campus. Many spectacular examples have been located at either end of George Washington Hall, Paresky Commons, in front of Bartlet and Foxcroft Halls, on the west campus by Adams and Rockwell, in the Dudley Fitts Cherry Forest along Phillips Street, and on the north end of the old campus. The construction of Gelb Science Center in 2004 nearly led to the removal of particularly dazzling cherry tree. Longtime biology instructor Tom Cone and students convinced the administration to save the cherry tree.
On September 29, 2018, Phillips Academy renamed the Great Quad in honor of African American alumnus Richard T. Greener, class of 1865. According to Head of School John Palfrey, the dedication of the Quad was made possible by an anonymous donor and funds gathered by Andover’s Knowledge and Goodness Campaign.
Designed as the centerpiece of the new central campus, Samuel Phillips Hall is a good example of colonial revival style as interpreted by architect Guy Lowell. Grand in size and detail, the building dominates the Greener Quadrangle. The tower, cupola, and weathervane rise to 117 feet, an imposing height even from the vantage point of Main Street. A clock with a face of Andover blue and with gold figures and hands is on the front of the tower. The building itself is constructed of granite and brick 250 feet long, 33 feet deep with north and south wings 31 feet wide and 37 feet deep. The building currently houses the History & Social Science and World Languages departments. Sam Phil is the largest classroom building at Andover.
Between George Washington hall and Samuel Phillips Hall is the path to the Chapel Cemetery. When Phillips Academy and Andover Theological Seminary opened in 1778 and 1808, the schools did not immediately make provisions for burying deceased faculty, staff, and students. They operated for many years without a burial ground. In 1810 the first known burial occurred on land to the east of the seminary on land owned by Isaac Blunt, a revolutionary War captain and tavern operator. Efforts to obtain the land from Blunt began in 1816, but the official land transfer (of 1.01 acres) took place in 1820.
On the north side of the Great Quad (now called the Greener Quad), architect Charles Platt erected his first major structure for the academy, the new administration building. The trustees chose Charles Platt over Guy Lowell, who had worked for Phillips Academy for 24 years, designing everything from the baseball cage to dormitories. The main facade of George Washington Hall, known as GW on campus, faces the Quad with a strong central pedimented pavilion that frames three entrances with lunettes. Compared to the portico of Samuel Phillips Hall, which was designed by Guy Lowell in 1924, Platt's design is slim and refined. In addition to donating $500,000 for this administration building, trustee Thomas Cochran purchased a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington to hang in the lobby of the hall. GW was designed to house offices for the principal, registrar, treasurer, and other administrators. It also provided a large auditorium, with seating for more than 1200 people. It remains the primary administration building.
Founded in 1931, the Addison Gallery of American Art houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of American art. It holds 17,000 works of art dating from the 18th century to the present. Photographs, paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and other forms of artwork are represented here. Works by famous artists include John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Alexander Calder, and Stuart Davis. The photography collection is large, numbering 7,600 and includes pictures by Walker Evans and Robert Frank. Admission to the museum is free.
Henry L. Stimson House was dedicated in 1961 under headmaster John Kemper as a boys dormitory, and it currently serves as a dormitory for upperclassmen girls. Located in the Pine Knoll Cluster, Stimson House was built for forty students along with two house counselors and their families. The dorm was built as part of the school's major capital campaign, the Andover Program, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was designed by The Architects Collaborative of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was comprised of architects Benjamin Thompson, J. Timothy Anderson, Thomas Greene, Joseph Maybank, Visvaldis Paukulis, Sherry Proctor, and G.W.T. Rankine.Stimson House consists of brick and glass materials and is stylistically constructed using a combination of sympathetic materials, irregular plans, gable roofs, and informal siting. As with the other dormitories in the Pine Knoll Cluster, this building style dramatically contrasts that of the rest of the campus and is intended to visually coexist with its natural surroundings.
In 1929 trustee donor Thomas Cochran and architect Charles Platt convinced the trustees to set aside a lightly forested area north of Rabbit Pond formerly known as Missionary Woods, a reference to the pioneering Christian Mission work undertaken by early graduates of Andover Theological Seminary. With that land and a large adjacent tract that Cochran purchased, Phillips Academy hired the Olmsted Brothers to design a bird sanctuary.
Cochran Chapel was the final element of architect Charles Platt's grand building campaign of the central campus begun in 1923. Originally planned for the site of the Addison Gallery, its relocation to Chapel Avenue forced Platt to reorganize the entire street. On its new site, Platt adjusted the chapel to align with the Memorial Bell Tower, instead of simply parallel Main Street, to reinforce the north-south axis of the Great Lawn.
The Andover Inn was designed in a Georgian-revival style by Sidney Wagner of Bottomley, Wagner & White, with Charles Platt as supervising architect. Called the Phillips Inn until 1940, it replaces an old stone house, the former residence of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her husband, and a huge wooden addition from the 1890s.
Located behind the Andover Inn and Cochran Chapel lies Stowe house, once home to the family of writer Harriet Beecher Stowe. The builfing has been renovated for various purposes several times since its construction in1828. Phillips Academy now uses it as a dormitory for students and faculty. The specific address can be found at 80 Bartlet Street, Andover, Massachusetts 01810.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour includes stops in the original Phillips Academy and Andover Theological Seminary campuses as well as Abbot Academy. Historical and cultural landmarks in the central campus and faculty row are included.
