Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

Page 13 text:

' TC.e ufo t ambier Hill flattens out one- hundred and fifty feet above the gentle Kokosing, which makes a sort of gigantic ox- bow in the wide lowlands to the south-east, and disap- pears far away to the south and west. The bishop described the eastern valley from the hill as a smiling land and the western side as an unconquered wilderness. When Chase, a hired man, and his son Dudley first mounted the hill, it was all a windfall ; fallen trees stretched between a second growth of thick trees and bushes. A road ran a mile off from the southern slope of the hill. Within the surrounding few miles only a few squatters in their cabins were here. The only real civilization was Mt. Vernon, the home of Johnny Appleseed. That was 1826. By 1829 Old Kenyon, the earliest example of gothic architec- ture in American colleges, was built and occupied. The settlement had stir- red up distress in the nearby coun- tryside. Many of the local people were veterans of the American Revolution and the recent War of 1812. Old Ken- yon resembled a fortress, with walls 4V4 feet thick, positioned on a hill, and financed with English money. There was reason for expecting more warfare. Middle Path, as it is now, was com- pleted in the 1840 ' s. At that time, most of the important buildings on the cam- pus had been completed, with the ex- ception of Peirce and the Holy Christ Chapel. Milnor Hall, a grammar school for boys until it was changed to the Kenyon Military Academy in 1885, was the second major landmark in Gambier. The K.M.A. was an important part of Kenyon; at one time it was better known and had several times as many students attending. By 1869, when the chapel was com- pleted, Rosse Hall, Bexley Hall, and Ascension had been built. Today, the ringing of the chapel chimes is as familiar a sound to Kenyon students as it was 116 years ago. As a verse from the Old Kenyon song in- dicates: Yes! Yes! We know them well — Those hours the deep-toned bell — pealed swift away. ith slate shingles, 1880. Kenyan Places — 9

Page 12 text:

m ' ' MW- Old Kenyon, 1886. Along Middle Path, 1875 Cambier from Ihij M 1 1 1 1 iH 1 ■ ' ii • Wf 1 feJl - 4R |ii 9|23 F ■ W 1 f ' - ' m 1 i- - t 2l Grocery and cleaners on Gaskin St., 1960. North end of Middle Path, 1860. Cornfield behind Ascension.

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Thi- K.C Ih.Mh.ipcl Ir 10 Kctiuon Places