Widener University - Pioneer Yearbook (Chester, PA)

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Location and Buildings y ,cgi -, HE PENNSYLVANIA MILITARY COLLEGE is located at Chester, on the lines of the Phila- delphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad, and LY?i5BiliQl, of the Baltimore and Philadelphia Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, about a half-hour's ride from Philadelphia. The buildings, erected at a large cost, and occupying an eminence that overlooks the Delaware River and the adjacent country, consist of the College Build- ing, Laboratory, Memorial Observatory, Hospital Building, Drill Hall and Gymnasium, Riding Hall and Stables. The grounds, including Cadet Limits, are upwards of twenty acres in extent 3 the surroundings are healthful, and the ap- pointments especially adapted to the needs of a military institution. THE COLLEGE BUILDING of stone, is two hundred and seventeen feet long, fifty feet deep, and four stories high. It accommodates about one hundred and fifty cadets, together with the resident members of the Faculty and Military Staff. It has wide, airy corri- dors, and, for all cadets, bright, well-ventilated rooms, look- ing out upon miles of beautiful landscape. The private rooms, each intended for the occupancy of two cadets, are located on the third and fourth floors, on the fifth floor are the Draughting Room, the Engineering, the Mathematical and other recitation rooms. All apartments for the general work of the institution, such as the Administration Offices, Assembly Hall, Library, and Mess Hall, were planned for the uses to which they are respectively applied. The building is lighted by electricity and heated by the indirect method of steam-heating, which supplies pure warm air to every apartment. An abundant supply of water from the city works is available for general useg for drinking purposes, a special and superior quality of water is to be had at various places in Cadet Quarters. In the General Lavatory are shower-baths, and eighteen full-sized bath- tubs, each furnished with hot and cold water. l2

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advantages. Suitable quarters were immediately available fthe Crozer Normal School buildingj, and within a month the institution, fully organized, was at work in the city destined to be its permanent home. This change was formally recognized by the Legislature in granting a Supple- ment to the Act of Incorporation, which was approved February 21, 1868. During the year 1867, a number of citizens of Chester, incorporated as the Military Academy Stock Company, pur- chased a fine tract of land on the northeastern border of the city, and proceeded to erect buildings for the use of the school, which was still occupying, under lease, the Crozer property. In June of the same year the cornerstone of the main edifice was laid with appropriate ceremonies, and Sep- tember 3, 1868, the academy opened the doors of its new home to the incoming corps of students. A fire completely destroyed the principal building, February 16, 1882. The interruption of scholastic work was but brief, however, for within less than a month the entire body of students re- assembled at Ridley Park, a borough two miles north of Chester, and took up quarters in the Ridley Park Hotel, which had been rented and furnished for the temporary use of the school, where the appointed work of the year, scholastic and military, was completed with the loss of only one week from the published calendar of the session. Sep- tember, I882, found a new main building occupying the site of that destroyed in February, with increased accommoda- tions, and far greater facilities for the conduct of the various departments of duty. Changes, improvements and additions have marked the passing of recent years, and the present equipment of buildings offers excellent opportunity for the collegiate education and military instruction of a large corps of cadets. A In order that the name of the institution might properly indicate that the Legislature had invested the Board of Trustees with collegiate powers and privileges, the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 12, 1892, changed the corporate title to Pennsylvania Military College. ll

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The system of sewerage is scientific and thorough 3 and this, with good ventilation and drainage, secures the best sanitary condition. F ire-walls and heavy fire-doors divide the building into four sections, each with its own stairway, while exterior fire- escapes provide additional means of safety. THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY situated about sixty feet distant from the College Building, and connected with it by an iron bridgeway, affords excel- lent facilities for the conduct of the chemical and physical departments. The Lecture Room, on the second Hoor, seats one hundred students 5 the Qualitative Analysis Room, first floor, is furnished for a division of twenty-two, the Quanti- tative Room for a division of ten. In addition to these, there is a private laboratory for the professor, and a Balance Room. The Laboratory is fitted with modern appliances for the convenience, as well as for the use, of the student. THE THEODORE HYATT MEMORIAL OBSERVATORY is a gray stone building, of tasteful architecture. Overlook- ing the Parade from the east, the Observatory occupies the most elevated site within college limits. The equipment, contributed in memoriam jointly by the Alumni Association, ex-cadets, and friends of the hon- ored Founder of the College, furnishes opportunity for ex- tended work in practical Astronomy. The outfit consists of a six-inch refracting telescope with position-micrometer, helioscope, and solar and spectroscope attachments, a transit, a sidereal clock, and other appurtenances necessary to sys- tematic work. The ENGINEERING LABORATORY, an apartment that ad- joins the Transit Room, is furnished with the machinery and electrical power necessary to a practical course in the testing of metals and cements for constructional purposes. THE HOSPITAL BUILDING is a neat brick structure erected for the Medical Department, and located off Cadet Limits, but within convenient reach of Quarters. I3