Northampton Architecture- Quadrant 4

College Hall

The Boston firm of Peabody and Stearns won the competition for the design of the College Hall. No doubt the example of Matthews Hall, a Harvard dormitory recently erected by the firm, favorably impressed the trustees. Ground was broken in the spring of 1874 and the building was dedicated at the inauguration of the President Seelye on July 14, 1875. Upon its completion, College Hall became at once the architectural symbol and the physical reality of Smith, for it literally was the College. Its elevated site and picturesque tower aligned on Main Street provided a powerful image of the new institution and its relationship to Northampton.

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