Hathorn Hall is a historic academic building on
the campus of Bates College in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...
. Built in 1857 to a design by
Gridley J.F. Bryant, it was the college's first academic building following the move of the Maine State Seminary (as it was then known) from
Parsonsfield to Lewiston. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1970.
Description
Hathorn Hall is centrally located on the Bates College Campus, which is located northeast of Lewiston's commercial downtown area. The hall is a rectangular brick building, three stories in height, with a hip roof capped by a cupola housing an open
belfry. Low pedimented gables rise from the short ends of the roof. The gables and the roof's cornice are studded with modillions. Its main entrance, set on one of the short ends, is sheltered by a rectangular flat-roof portico, which has fluted Corinthian columns supporting a full entablature with cornice.
History
Hathorn Hall and Parker Halls were completed in 1857 by
Gridley J.F. Bryant as the first buildings on the Bates campus, then called the Maine State Seminary. Bryant also completed the main building on the
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
campus in 1852. The building was named after
Seth Hathorn
Seth Hathorn (1780–1856) was a Maine philanthropist who made large donations to the founding of Bates College, Maine Central Institute, and the University of Maine.
Seth Hathorn was born in Woolwich, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) to John ...
and Mary Hathorn of
Woolwich, Maine
Woolwich is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,068 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. Woolwich is a suburb of the city of ...
who donated funds for the construction of the building. Jonathan Davis donated the bell in Hathorn's bell tower. Nineteenth century "
ivy stones
Ivy Day is an annual ceremony in which an ivy stone is placed on either a residential, academic or administrative building or ground to commemorate academic excellence. The ceremony is most known for being practiced among older colleges in the No ...
" from early classes at the college are embedded in the brick along the exterior of the building.
Hathorn Hall's interior has changed several times since its original construction. A fire started in the bell tower of Hathorn Hall in 1881 which severely damaged much of the interior of the building, and the interior was again renovated in 1898, 1960–62, and 1984 (with $180,000 from the
Pew Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), founded in 1948.
With over 6 billion in assets, its stated mission is to serve the public interest by "improving public policy, informing the public, a ...
). The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1970.
As of 2010 Hathorn Hall is home to Bates' mathematics and foreign language departments and two computer labs.
[''Bates College Buildings History'' (accessed December 1, 2008)]
Images
Image:Bates College 1857.JPG, 1857 lithograph image of Hathorn and Parker Halls from an early college catalogue
Image:Bates College.JPG, Hathorn and Parker Halls in the 1860s
Image:Ivy Day.JPG, Planting the ivy and laying the class ivy stone
Ivy Day is an annual ceremony in which an ivy stone is placed on either a residential, academic or administrative building or ground to commemorate academic excellence. The ceremony is most known for being practiced among older colleges in the No ...
on Ivy Day at Hathorn Hall, ca. 1895
Image:Hathorn Hall bell tower.jpg, Hathorn Hall Bell Tower in 2003
Image:Fireworks_at_Bates_College_Hathorn_Hall.jpg, Fireworks behind Hathorn Hall in 2002
Image:Hathorn HallBates.jpg, Hathorn Hall in winter
See also
*
References
{{Bates College
University and college buildings completed in 1857
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Bates College
University and college academic buildings in the United States
Buildings and structures in Lewiston, Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Lewiston, Maine
1857 establishments in Maine