From the Archives: SPS Under Construction

Lisa Laughy — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:16:17 +0000

As construction continues on Dunbarton Road and the new Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, it brings to mind other major construction projects from the history of St. Paul’s School. Although difficult to tell from inside or outside of the New Chapel, an entire section was added to the nave forty-two years after original construction began. The images below depict the expansion at its most dramatic point:

In 1928 the New Chapel was expanded to accommodate the increasing number of students at St. Paul’s School. The Sesquicentennial Exhibit offers this description of the photos:

In 1928 the Chapel was deconsecrated and workmen began to slice through the brick walls. The School held its collective breath as the eastern end of the vast structure, seemingly too narrow to hold itself erect, was slid upon tracks to its new location. The task of reconstruction then went forward as the void between the two parts of the old building was filled with Gothic tracery.

See if you can spot this particularly brave fellow in the picture above!

From the Archives: Dunbarton Road Construction

Lisa Laughy — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:00:37 +0000

Dunbarton Road, once called New Dunbarton Road, is undergoing construction as part of the site preparation for the building of the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science. Rectory Road, the original Dunbarton Road, was once the main route from Concord to Dunbarton and beyond. It wasn’t always the quiet roadway through the center of the grounds that it is today, and by the early years of the 20th century the increase in automobile traffic had become a menace. The New Dunbarton Road was opened in June of 1920 as a way to re-direct traffic away from the center of the grounds.

The images below were discovered in the Archives as part of a personal photo album given by an unknown donor. The photo album consists of several dozen black and white photographs of construction at SPS during the first few decades of the 20th century.

Clearing the way: A team of work horses is used to remove rocks from the road. The corner of the Red Barn can be seen on the left.

Grading the road: Alumni House is on the left and the Red Barn is on the right. The view is looking toward the entrance to the School.

Heavy metal: A close-up of the steam roller seen the previous image.

Read more about the history of the New Dunbarton Road in this Fall 2008 Alumni Horae article (PDF file) by clicking HERE.

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From the Archives: SPS Under Construction

From the Archives: Dunbarton Road Construction