There's No place like home
In 1812, on a four-plot section of land called Academy Square at the corner of West Third and West streets in what is now downtown Williamsport stood the Williamsport Academy – the proud beginnings of Lycoming College.
In the nearly 200 years since, a lot has happened to the place that generations of students have, for at least a short time, called home. If you were to click your heels together three times and wish, where would your ruby slippers – or favorite pair of chucks – take you? Clarke Chapel? The Quad? Perhaps somewhere more obscure, like a favorite corner of the library? It may even be that the spot you associate most with Lycoming now exists only as a fond memory.
Williamsport Academy
Chartered on April 2, 1811, the Williamsport Academy, described as a plain but substantial brick structure with two stories and four good-sized rooms, was the first home of what would become Lycoming College.
Old Main
The College moved to its current setting in 1839. Near the city's center, on a slight eminence, the west wing of Old Main was built and the institution was affectionately referred to as "The School Upon the Hilltop." In its 130-year span that lasted until 1968, Old Main contained student rooms, administrative and faculty offices, a chapel, classrooms, the library and the residence of the president. Today, its location is commemorated by a marker between the Fine Arts Building and Lamade Gymnasium.
Bradley Hall
The May 1895 issue of the Dickinson Liberal student newspaper read, "It is with pleasure we note for the benefit of our readers that Bradley Hall cornerstone was laid on Tuesday, April 23… The building when finished will be among the finest in the city and a monument of a long cherished hope and indefatigable effort." And fine it was. The only building of its kind in northern Pennsylvania at the time, the three-story brick structure with Italian-style architecture served as an art and music conservatory, and later housed the library, faculty offices and classrooms. Bradley stood for 85 years, until it was razed in 1980.
Eveland Hall
"Egypt has its Pyramids of Kufu, China has its Wall, Babylon had its Hanging Gardens, Greece had its Jupiter Olympus, its Tomb of Mausolus, its Temple of Diana, Rhodes had its Brass Colossus, the Pharaohs had their lighthouse, and in this present day and age Dickinson Seminary has its Angel Factory."
If this quote from "The Dart" yearbook of Dickinson Seminary in 1925 is any indication, students loved their Eveland Hall. Built in 1912 and originally called the Service Building, Eveland was renamed in honor of Dr. William Perry Eveland, one of the Seminary's presidents. Eveland Hall was bestowed the nickname "Angel Factory" because it housed the ministerial students, who by many accounts were less than angelic in their day. It also served as a Civil War museum from 1958-68. The building stood until 1979, when it was removed to make room for Lamade Gymnasium.
Memorial Hall
Dedicated in 1947, 100 years after the founding of Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, Memorial Hall's short-lived span on campus lasted until 1968. The hall was originally a war surplus building and later used by the government as office space. The College acquired the frame building and moved it from White Deer. Found adjacent to the Chapel, Memorial doubled the classroom space at the, growing institution. It was dedicated to 25 war dead and more than 400 World War II service men and women.
The "Old" Science Building
Once the bottling facility for Flock's Brewing Company, this building was converted into a science center in 1956-57. It was used until 1988 and housed biology and chemistry laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall and a greenhouse. Flock's brewery moved in as the Seminary's neighbor in 1854. For many years, numerous jokes had been recited concerning Seminary students operating a pipe line from the vats to Bradley Hall, a few feet away.