The Tome School is a private school in North East in

Cecil County Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

in the U.S. state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Founded in 1894 by

Jacob Tome Jacob Tome (August 13, 1810 – March 16, 1898) was an American banker, philanthropist, and politician who died as one of the richest men in the United States. He was the first millionaire of Cecil County, Maryland and an accomplished phi ...

, it is one of the oldest schools in Maryland. It enrolls grades K–12. As of 2022, the Head of School is Christine Szymanski. The school was founded as the Tome School for Boys in nearby

Port Deposit Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located a ...

. That campus, now owned by the Bainbridge Development Corporation, is no longer in operation and is closed to the public. Since the 2010s, several of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed by vandals, and the company has installed security cameras and taken other measures to keep trespassers off the property. Director's Residence Jacob Tome Institute Cecil Maryland

Director's Residence Jacob Tome Institute Cecil Maryland

History

Port Deposit

In the early 1890s,

(1810-1898)—a wealthy railroad and timber magnate who had served in the Maryland State Senate—decided to open a nonsectarian college preparatory school for boys. He founded the Tome School for Boys on Main Street in

Port Deposit, Maryland Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census. Geography Port Deposit is located a ...

, on the east bank of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

. It opened for boarders and received its first students in 1894. It was part of a system of schools collectively known as the Jacob Tome Institute that began with

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and extended through

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Situated in the northeast corner of the state, the Tome School was immediately popular, attracting almost all the students from the town of Port Deposit and many from outside, throughout

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and neighboring states. Tome left the school an endowment at his death in 1898. Under the direction of his widow, Evalyn N. Tome, the Board of Trustees hired Scottish immigrant James Cameron Mackenzie (1852-1931) to direct the school. MacKenzie, one of the most important late 19th-century secondary school educators, proposed using the endowment to create a separate upper-level boarding school for boys. Two hundred acres on the bluff above the town and the broad and picturesque Susquehanna River were purchased for this purpose. MacKenzie in turn consulted with

Robert Swain Peabody Robert Swain Peabody (February 20, 1845 – September 23, 1917) was a prominent Boston architect who was the cofounder of the firm Peabody & Stearns. Early life Peabody was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on February 20, 1845. He was a ...

(1845-1917), of the prominent

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

architectural firm of

Peabody & Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns ...

, concerning the design of the new Jacob Tome Institute. Following a design competition in 1900, supervised by Peabody, the Board of Trustees selected designs in the then-popular Beaux-arts architectural style by partner architects William Boring (1859-1937) and

Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...

(1861-1933), co-designers of the U.S. immigration station at

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

New York harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

. Over the next five years, stone buildings were erected, using granite from local quarries. The tree-lined streets of the campus, which converged at the steps of Memorial Hall, were designed by landscape architect

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

(1822-1903), who had designed New York's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

.A History of Maryland’s Lower Susquehanna Region
Olmsted selected

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Charles Wellford Leavitt (1871-1928) to design the school's gardens. By 1902, the school had more than a dozen buildings and an endowment of $2 million ($ today). Thirteen of these buildings survive, though some have been damaged or all but destroyed by fire: Memorial Hall, three dormitories (Jackson, Madison, and Harrison), the Chesapeake Inn dormitory and dining hall, the Director's residence, the Monroe Gymnasium, and six Master's cottages. Erika L. Quesenbery, author of ''United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge'', wrote that Memorial Hall was the school's "centerpiece". In the early 1900s, Tome played football annually against

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

, the third-oldest public high school in America, founded 1839, and with an interscholastic football team program dating back to the 1880s and had several other schools and colleges on its schedule. The rivalry was fairly even. The City's Collegians beat Tome 5–0 in 1903 and 11–8 in 1904, but Tome won 32–0 in 1912 and 37–0 in 1915. Other rivalries also were versus the

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, colloquially referred to as BPI, Poly, and The Institute, is a U.S. public high school founded in 1883. Established as an all-male manual trade / vocational school by the Baltimore City Council and the Balti ...

, the mathematics/science/technology public high school, established 1883 that was also City College's arch-rival. These were the few other public secondary schools, in addition to several other private or religious schools, institutes and academies in the region offering worthy sports and academic competition. In 1906, school director Abram W. Harris, along with

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

members on the Tome School faculty, organized Alpha Delta Tau fraternity, which later became the

Cum Laude Society The Cum Laude Society is an organization that honors scholastic achievement at secondary institutions, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which honors scholastic achievements at the university level. It was founded at The Tome School in 19 ...

. The school enjoyed a prestigious reputation for a number of years. Its students included R. J. Reynolds, Jr., a son of

R. J. Reynolds Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry College from 1868 to 1870 ...

; and children of the Mellon and Carnegie families.

United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge

After thriving for several decades, the Jacob Tome Institute fell into difficult financial straits during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

of the 1930s and closed in 1941. The following year, just after the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

approved the acquisition by condemnation of the property and land from 70 surrounding farms for use by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

as a training center. The institute's buildings were renovated for use by the Naval Academy Preparatory School to prepare future midshipmen for the U.S. Naval Academy further south at

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. On October 1, 1942, United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge—named for early-19th-century naval hero

William Bainbridge William Bainbridge (May 7, 1774July 27, 1833) was a Commodore in the United States Navy. During his long career in the young American Navy he served under six presidents beginning with John Adams and is notable for his many victories at sea. He ...

—was activated. The training center operated through

, the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, graduating more than 500,000 recruits before it closed on March 31, 1976. From 1979 to 1991, the campus was occupied by the Susquehanna Job Corps Center. In 2000, the site was transferred to the

State of Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

, which subsequently turned it over to the Bainbridge Development Corporation, a quasi-government corporation. Meanwhile, the Tome School moved back to its original site on Main Street in Port Deposit. In 1971, the Tome School moved to a new, hundred-acre campus in

North East, Maryland North East is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located between Philadelphia and Baltimore. The population was 3,572 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The Turkey Point Light, Turkey Point L ...

. In 1984, the school property and buildings were 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 ...

as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

in 1984.

Damages

Several of the old Tome School for Boys campus buildings have been damaged or destroyed by arsonists and trespassers. On September 21, 2014, a fire damaged the old campus' Memorial Hall, destroying its clock tower. Only the granite structure remains. In 2018, a local newspaper wrote of the old campus that Van Buren, Madison, and Monroe Halls remain, while the headmaster's house "is badly vandalized but standing", and Jackson Hall "like Memorial Hall, is a burned-out hulk." In 2019, 11 people—all 15 to 18 years old—were spotted by the acting Port Deposit police chief on the property. They were subsequently arrested and charged with trespassing. On May 6, 2020, a fire burned the former Inn to the ground. The Bainbridge Development Corporation has since installed a security system that is "fully wireless and solar powered" with "cameras at key points on the property, monitoring 24/7." As of September 2022, the company was installing 100 "No Trespassing” signs.

Academics

The

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

school enrolls students from

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

. The

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

provides a broad

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

education in an environment emphasizing academic success, high standards of personal behavior, and full participation in school life. The student body is divided among three schools: * Lower School (K-4). Students begin French and Spanish language study in

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by r ...

. * Middle School (5-8). Students are required to take

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

study in the

seventh grade Seventh grade (or grade seven) is a year or level of education. The seventh grade is the eighth school year, the second or third year of middle school, and the first year of junior high school. Students are around 13-14 years old in this stage of ...

through eighth grade. * Upper School (9-12). Students concentrate on a traditional

college prep A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

academic program.

Extracurricular activities

*Varsity sports: basketball, soccer, lacrosse, cross country, tennis, volleyball, field hockey, softball, baseball, golf, and cheerleading. * Junior varsity sports: basketball, soccer, cross country, field hockey, volleyball, and tennis. * Organizations and clubs:

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, Junior National Honor Society,

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...

, Builders Club, Middle School Chorus, Orchestra, Student Government, Chess Club, Environmental Club, Envirothon Team, and Student Literary Magazine.

Notable alumni, faculty, and staff

Abner Biberman Abner Warren Biberman (April 1, 1909 – June 20, 1977) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Early years Biberman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, later moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He gained early acting experien ...

: actor, director, and screenwriter * Thomas Baker: president of Carnegie Institute of Technology *

John B. Breckinridge John Bayne Breckinridge (November 29, 1913 – July 29, 1979) was an American politician, a Democrat who served as Attorney General of Kentucky twice and also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky. Ear ...

Attorney General of Kentucky The Attorney General of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), the state's chief law enforcement officer (K ...

and U.S. Representative *

Forrest Craver Forrest Eugene "Cap" Craver Sr. (September 24, 1875 – October 18, 1958) was an American college football player and coach and athletic director who helped to pioneer physical education programs at the collegiate level including the introduction o ...

: football head coach, director of sports *

Kent Curtis Marvin Kent Curtis (October 10, 1890 – December 24, 1957) was an American aviator, novelist, illustrator, yachtsman, and teacher. Curtis served in World War I as an aviator with the Royal Air Force, was shot down, reported dead, and held priso ...

: American novelist, illustrator, composer, yachtsman, and teacher *

James Devereux James Patrick Sinnott Devereux (February 20, 1903 – August 5, 1988) was a United States Marine Corps general, Navy Cross recipient, and Republican congressman. He was the officer-in-charge (OIC) of the 1st Defense Battalion Detachment dur ...

: United States Marine Corps general,

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

recipient, and U.S. Representative from Maryland *

Eric P. Hamp Eric Pratt Hamp (November 16, 1920 – February 17, 2019) was an American linguist widely respected as a leading authority on Indo-European linguistics, with particular interests in Celtic languages and Albanian. Unlike many Indo-Europeanists, wh ...

: linguist * William S. James: Maryland state legislator and

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

Harry LeGore Harry William LeGore (August 1, 1894 – June 7, 1956) was an American football and baseball player, Maryland state legislator and businessman. Biography Early years LeGore was born in Frederick County, Maryland. He was a son of the James Wil ...

: American football and baseball player, Maryland state legislator and businessman *

Norman T. Kirk Norman T. Kirk (January 3, 1888 – August 13, 1960) was a surgeon who specialized in bone and joint surgery during World War 1 and was Surgeon General of the Army from 1943-1947 during the height of the second World War. Biography Norman Tho ...

Surgeon General of the United States Army The Surgeon General of the United States Army is the senior-most officer of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD). By policy, the Surgeon General (TSG) serves as Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) as well as head of the ...

Jim Meade James Gordon Meade Jr. (February 28, 1914 – August 7, 1977) was an American football player and coach and college athletics administrator. He played professionally as a Halfback (American football), halfback in the National Football League (NFL) ...

: American football player and coach *

James Rouse James Wilson Rouse (April 26, 1914 – April 9, 1996) was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthr ...

: founder of

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company T ...

, attended for one year * Lansdale Sasscer: U.S. Representative from Maryland *

Milward Simpson Milward Lee Simpson (November 12, 1897June 11, 1993) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming, the first born in the state. In 1985, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the Nati ...

(1897–1993), class of 1917, U.S. Senator and as the 23rd Governor of Wyoming

References

External links

The Tome School

The Tome School parent reviews

Tome School High School Alumni @ Reunion

Tome School directions
- mapquest.com
Photos and History on eastghost.com
* , including photo from 1907, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Jacob Tome Institute, Tome Road, between Bainbridge Road & Route 276, Port Deposit vicinity, Cecil, MD
at the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

(HABS), with additional material a

an

{{authority control Preparatory schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1894 School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Georgian Revival architecture in Maryland Colonial Revival architecture in Maryland School buildings completed in 1900 Edward Lippincott Tilton buildings Schools in Cecil County, Maryland Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland Private K-12 schools in Maryland 1894 establishments in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Cecil County, Maryland