Private School

Tabor Hall // c.1880

Buildings of New England5 Comments

This beautiful Italianate building was constructed around 1880 for the newly established Tabor Academy, which was founded in Marion, Massachusetts by Ms. Elizabeth Taber in 1876. After Ms. Taber funded the constructed of a town library and museum and Academy Building (now the Marion Town Hall) for her hometown, she endowed money for Tabor Hall, which was to house the school’s Principal, some boarding students, and most importantly, herself. The structure was originally located on Spring Street, just north of the library, 1936, when the “Tabor Swap” occurred. The swap was a deal between the academy and the Town of Marion, who exchanged properties. The town received the library building, the academic building (soon after converted to Town Hall) and land where this building once sat and erected the Sippican Elementary school on the land, and had Tabor Hall moved a block away to this site on Cottage Street. Tabor Hall has since been a private home, and recently (before this image) has been renovated with new siding.

Tabor Academy Building – Marion Town Hall // 1876

Buildings of New England5 Comments

This building, one of the most architecturally significant in the town of Marion, Massachusetts, was constructed in 1876 as a new academy building in the community. When built, Marion was not yet a summer resort community and suffered the decline of the shipbuilding and sea-faring trades that saw the region prosper throughout much of the first half of the 19th century. The new academy building was largely funded by Marion resident, Elizabeth Sprague Pitcher Tabor (1791- 1888). Following the death of her wealthy husband, New Bedford clockmaker and whaling vessel shareholder Stephen Taber, Mrs. Taber focused her attention on improving the circumstances of her hometown of Marion by financing and overseeing construction of new buildings in town. In her later years, Elizabeth founded Tabor Academy in Marion, naming it after Mount Tabor in Palestine rather than after herself (but the close spelling was likely intentional). Tabor Academy served as a private school for boys and girls over 12 years of age, and was to remain free for local students. With the rise of public schools in the state, many academies began to struggle with admitting students, especially those that had parents willing to pay additional money for enrollment. The school struggled around the Great Depression and thus, traded buildings with the Town of Marion in the 1930s and this building became the Marion Town Hall, a use it retains to this day. The building itself is a stunning Italianate design, likely constructed from plans by Boston architect and summer resident in Marion, William Gibbons Preston. The Town of Marion has done an exceptional job maintaining and preserving this significant and iconic piece of architecture and local history into the 21st century.

Westover School // 1909

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At the heart of the rural community of Middlebury, comprised largely of Connecticut farmers, far from the hustle and bustle of the world, Mary Robbins Hillard (1862-1932) sought to create a girls school to “provide young women with a liberal education in a community which would contribute to the development of their character, independence and sense of responsibility.” To accomplish this, they needed a school, and Mary hired her good friend (and architect) Theodate Pope Riddle to design the private girl’s school campus and main buildings on a site fronting the town green. The school opened in 1909 with125 pupils, slightly over capacity. For the design Theodate Pope Riddle – who was one of the first American women architects and a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania – took inspiration from English Arts and Crafts and historical precedence in English schools with large open courtyard plans. Originally finished in a gray stucco, the building enclosed a quadrangle at the rear. Inside, administration offices, reception rooms, living rooms, a library, gymnasium, chapel, dining rooms, infirmary, and (of course) classrooms lined the interiors on a closed loop to allow students and teachers access to all parts of the building without ever stepping outside in the cold New England winters. The Westover School remains active and one of the highest ranked private schools in the area today, and with a more cheery yellow coat!