The Search for a New Campus in 1872

by Peter Knapp ’65, College Archivist

1998年的秋天标志着西伯里和贾维斯大厅竣工120周年，也是三一峰会校园第一学年的开始. 在与Frederick Law Olmsted协商的选择过程中，该地点是受托委员会考虑的几个地点之一, the preeminent 19th-century American landscape architect.

For more than half a century after its founding in 1823, 学院坐落在哈特福德市中心的山顶上，毗邻布什内尔公园. In the years immediately following the Civil War, 公众倾向于将这片珍贵的土地用于不同的公共用途. 当时，州立法机关遵循着历史悠久的惯例，在哈特福德和纽黑文轮流开会, 这两个城市对于谁将成为政府的永久所在地的竞争正在加剧. In 1872, 哈特福德市的元老们找到信誉最好的网投十大平台董事会，提议买下这个校园，作为新建州议会大厦的场地. President Abner Jackson, convinced of Trinity’s bright future, 欢迎这一提议，认为这是学院整体发展和机构扩张的机会. 尽管校友们有些不高兴，他那有说服力的观点还是占了上风, and the trustees approved the sale of the campus to the city, agreeing to vacate the old site by mid-1878.

杰克逊总统任命了一个由他自己担任主席的受托人委员会来确定校园的新地点. 到1873年初，委员会完成了工作，杰克逊发表了一份长篇报告. 他指出，委员会的第一步是就遴选标准征求弗雷德里克·劳·奥姆斯特德的意见, including “situation, extend, healthfulness and future surroundings” of sites. As quoted in the report, Olmsted’s reply to the committee was that, in his view, “我们所有欣欣向荣的学院都经历了不少尴尬，因为原来用于建校的土地比最近所需的要少得多. At Harvard, Amherst, Yale, Columbia, Princeton and others,” he continued, “the theory of a symmetrical general plan has been abandoned, new buildings planted in front of old ones, the original front changed, ground intended as a park or campus built over, adjoining ground annexed at greater cost, 最后在远离原有建筑的地方获得并建造.” Olmsted recommended that Trinity purchase a minimum of 60 acres of land, “of which about one-half should be reserved permanently for the College Common and building sites; the remainder laid out in a manner adapted to be inconvenient for commercial purposes, 但适合别墅住宅……这些地块的市场价值将在五年内大大增加学院的土地和这些改善(……水)的成本, gas, roadways, planting trees, etc.).这样的安排将为“该机构提供一个绝对免费的非常充足的场地”.”

Following Olmsted’s advice, the committee formulated selection criteria. Principally, 场地必须包括至少30到40英亩的土地，有足够的空间容纳现在和未来的建筑，以及一个具有适当景观效果和良好远景的公园, 再加上建筑物中的建筑之美，就会有不小的力量来改善品位和提升品格.” Other criteria were health (e.g., the avoidance of poorly drained, low-lying land for fear of disease), 相对接近“官员和学生有机会参观的地方”,” such as libraries and museums, and “the general character of the vicinity.”

1872年夏天，杰克逊总统在英国接受建筑师威廉·伯吉斯的服务, 委员会的其他成员开始考察一些可供选择的房产. Three emerged for primary consideration. 杰克逊在哈特福德的袖珍地图上指出了两个相对靠近老校区的地点. One of these, the Penfield property, located west of the Old Campus, was bounded on the south by Park Street, to the north and west by the Park River, and to the east by Babcock Street. In the context of 1998, this track lies northeast of Pope Park, and encompasses Park Terrace/Sigourney Street on the west, as well as Interstate 84 and the Aetna Inc. parking lots with the railroad as a northern boundary. 遴选委员会看中了彭菲尔德地区靠近老校区的位置, the elevated plateau for buildings that it offered, an attractive wooded area on the north and west, and the presence of Park River, which lent “an element of grace.” However, the 55-acre parcel was near industrial plants, housing construction in the area was on the rise, and the railroad presented an audible problem. As President Jackson noted in the report, 汽车的声音和汽笛的声音就在附近，产生了惊人的效果.尽管如此，董事会还是觉得这处房产的利大于弊, 但当委员会得知有几英亩地已经计划出售给另一方时, negotiations for the purchase were terminated.

委员会随后将注意力转向了其他地点——城市西北部蓝山地区的萨尔地产, and a tract of approximately 78 acres, comprising properties owned by several individuals, situated south of Vernon Street. 萨尔的房产由于位置偏远，很快就被排除在进一步的考虑之外. The Vernon Street property, on the other hand, offered many advantages. Bordered on the west by Rocky Ridge, on the east by Broad Street, and on the south by New Britain Avenue, 它的位置正好远离城市商业中心的喧嚣, 杰克逊总统指出，这处房产在健康方面是优越的，因为它提供了“一个高原，让大量的建筑坐落在深砾石床上，完全干燥，不受任何疟疾的影响”, the perimeter of the acreage was subdividable for “villas,通过安排一条从华盛顿街(Washington Street)到布罗德街(Broad Street)房产脚下的大道，可以获得一个宏大的场地. Satisfied with the Vernon Street site, the committee forwarded its recommendation to the board of trustees, and the purchase was arranged. The city soon created Brownell Avenue for access to the new campus, but for reasons unknown the trustees never pursued the villa concept.

In concluding his report, 杰克逊校长说，委员会“从一开始就觉得，最重要的考虑是为学院争取最好的场地, not for today nor for tomorrow but for all time.” Dying suddenly in 1874, he did not witness the construction of Seabury, Jarvis, and Northam Towers on the Vernon Street property, 但经过精心寻找新址，学院形成了一个无与伦比的美丽校园.