Conjectural drawing of the first
Harvard Hall, done in the 1930s by HR Shurtleff. The drawing is highly
romanticized and probably not a good interpretation of what the building
might have looked like.
 |
| The
First Harvard Hall |
| Date Built: |
1638 |
| Architect: |
Samuel Eliot Morison
believed the architect was one John Wilson, a Boston clergyman who
had studied at Cambridge University. Wilson probably wanted the new
college in a new Cambridge to look like its English counterpart.
|
| Style: |
Since there are no period
images of the first Harvard Hall, it is difficult to determine its
style, but it was most likely a blend of medieval and Renaissance
styles, with no regular symnetry or window patterns. |
| Renovations Years: |
The building
collapsed before it could ever be renovated. |
| Demolition Year: |
The first Harvard
Hall collapsed in 1679, probably because of a highly destructive termite
infestation.
|
| Stories: |
The first Harvard Hall's
construction costs totaled over one thousand pounds--and incredible
expense in a colony that had existed for only twelve years. In 1651
Edward Johnson noted that "The scituation of this Coledg is very
pleasant, at the end of a spacious plain, more like a bowling green
than a Wilderness, neer a fair navigable river, environed with many
Neighboring Towns of note...The building [is] thought by some to be
too gorgeous for a Wilderness, and yet too mean in other apprehensions
for a Colledg. It is at present inlarging by purchase of the neighboring
houses. It hath the conveniences of a fair hall, comfortable studies,
and a good Library."
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