Category Archives: p. 223

First gymnasium (p. 223)

enthusiasm ground was broken on May 13th, 1893, on a site where the present James C. Colgate Student Union now stands, and on June 18th, 1894, the building was dedicated.

To accommodate the four Academy fraternities the University in 1891 purchased the home of the late President Stephen W. Taylor which he had built about 1840 “with such careful oversight that local wits insisted that he inspected personally every brick that went into its making.” Reconditioning it involved removing an east wing, converting the interior into four large rooms-two on each floor-and adding broad porches on the front and back. Known as Taylor Hall, it was used by the Academy fraternities until 1912 when it became the YMCA student center, and later was converted to a campus post office and subsequently faculty club.

The faculty of the University increased from 23 in 1890 to 27 in 1899; the number in the College had grown from 11 to 13 and in both