The Alexander Graham Bell tower refers to a planned tower that would have been constructed at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

as a tribute to former faculty member Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone while at the university. Intended to sit behind

Marsh Chapel Marsh Chapel is a building on the campus of Boston University used as the official place of worship of the school. It was named for Daniel L. Marsh, a former president of BU and a Methodist minister. The building is Gothic in style. While Meth ...

on the

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

, the Collegiate Gothic masonry spire was to be modeled on the tower of St. Botolph's Church in

Boston, England Boston is a market town and inland port in the Borough of Boston, borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, Lincolns ...

, the town from which Boston, Massachusetts takes its name. The tower at St. Botolph's is commonly known as "the Boston Stump." The tower was first planned in 1920 as part of a unified campus plan, which would have allowed for around 30,000 students, but was cancelled for unknown reasons sometime after 1928, and was still mentioned as being planned in a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

book from 1937. Today, an engraving exists on the theology building that shows the likeness of the planned bell tower. Another collegiate tower modeled after the Boston stump,

Harkness Tower Harkness Tower is a masonry tower at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Collegiate Gothic Memorial Quadrangle complex completed in 1922, it is named for Charles William Harkness, brother of Yale's largest benefactor, Edward ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, was completed around the time that the Alexander Graham Bell tower was planned.

References

{{Coord, 42, 21, 3.47, N, 71, 6, 22.97, W, display=title Boston University Proposed skyscrapers in the United States Unbuilt buildings and structures in the United States Gothic Revival architecture in Massachusetts