Dartmouth Hall hasn’t had it easy over its 245 years of existence. From tornados to fires, the iconic emblem of Eleazer Wheelock’s college has suffered its share of calamity since first appearing on the Hanover skyline in 1784…
In early summer 1802 it endured a tornado that stripped clapboard from the facade and slung large sections of the building’s roof across town. A contemporary account by Hanover resident William W. Dewey bears witness to this first event:
"The wind struck upon the south front roof, stripping all the boards and several very heavy timbers some forty-five feet in length and from the eaves three-fifths of the way up to the ridgepole Some of these timbers were carried over east of the building and plunged into the ground so deep that it was very difficult to get them out again.”
Aside from the sophomoric hijinx and occasionally riotous behavior that was not uncommon on college campuses of the day (from canons to firecrackers), the building weathered the remainder of the 19th century without a permanently scarring incident. But disaster struck again in 1904 when a fire reduced the venerable old structure to cinder and ash. Says Dartmouth College history professor Francis Lane Childs ‘06 in a lecture on college history given in 1957:
“Having survived fireplaces and woodburning stoves, candles, oil lamps, and gas, the old building… fell victim to defective wiring. Fire broke out at 8 o'clock on the morning of February 18, 1904. The undergraduates were all in Chapel at the time. They heard the alarm and rushed out to see smoke coming from under the eaves all the way from the center of the building to the ends. The thermometer stood at 20° below zero that morning. The volunteer fire company of the town was handicapped in their supply of water, but even if they hadn't been they couldn't possibly have saved the building. The huge oak and pine timbers of which it was constructed had been drying for 120 years, and they were like tinder. Before two hours were over there was nothing left except a heap of smoldering ashes and a little of the lower end of the south wall from which two window frames were saved”
1904 Fire, Courtesy of Rauner Library
This was a genuine calamity to the community. The old building was the last connection between the college’s present and its colonial past. Ironically, the original construction plans for the Hall called for a brick structure, but budget restraints (and an abundance of pine trees) all but guaranteed wood-frame construction. The building would be rebuilt to near exact specification, in brick this time… Architect and Dartmouth alum, Charles A. Rich ‘75, said of his work:
"I count the rebuilding of the old Dartmouth Hall my greatest joy, as the glorious old building was burnt to the ground, only two little windows remaining, and the present building with about six feet in height added and a remodeling of its interior somewhat, was the result of loving remembrance of its mass and details”
Charles A. Rich wasn’t the only alum touched by the 1904 fire. The fire and the loss of a critical connection to the college’s colonial identity galvanized the alumni base and established Dartmouth’s pre-eminent reputation for alumni loyalty. A retelling of the incident in the January 1936 edition of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine epilogues with the following silverlining:
“The disaster denoted a turning point in the history of the College; more than any other single event, it served to crystallize alumni sentiment, and the immediate and generous response in money given at this time marked the beginning of that never-failing support of their alma mater that has characterized the alumni body ever since.”
Fire Strikes again in 1935, Courtesy of Dartmouth Alumni Magazine
The most recent calamity struck 90 years ago today…
On April 25, 1935 in the early hours of the morning, a mysterious fire broke out in the basement of Dartmouth hall and quickly spread up an interior air shaft, reaching the attic and spreading perilously before the fire companies from Hanover and Lebanon could be summoned to the scene. The Dartmouth reported:
HANOVER, N. H., April 25—The historic Dartmouth Hall was destroyed by fire early today. The blaze was believed to be of incendiary origin. The flames were first discovered in Dartmouth Hall at 1:20 AM by A. T. Jones, a Sophomore. He notified the telephone exchange but the automatic signaling device failed to work and the alarm was not given. After waiting for ten minutes, Jones ran out and sounded an alarm for himself. The Student Fire Department, a volunteer undergraduate organization, lead by Don Hagerman, captain of the varsity football team, and president of the Senior Class, assisted two fire companies in fighting the blaze. The fire in Dartmouth Hall seemed to be under control at 3 AM but soon broke out again with renewed vigor. Efforts of the amateur and professional fire-fighters to quell the blaze were in vain. The white bell tower of the building crashed into the ruins at 5 AM.
Meanwhile other fires were discovered in Wentworth and McNutt Halls and in Richardson and Middle Fayerweather dormitories. Charred telephone directories, books, and paper sacks and towels in the basements and in telephone booths in these buildings point to the work of a pyromaniac. These fires, however, were all extinguished before they had caused any serious damage. The Student Fire Department has had a colorful history dating back from the early nineteenth century. The society was founded by Daniel Webster when he was an undergraduate at Dartmouth. President Ernest Martin Hopkins announced that the rebuilding of Dartmouth Hall would be begun immediately. He revealed that eighty percent of the damage was covered by insurance. The total loss is estimated at $150,000. Dartmouth Hall, a beautiful three story white colonial building was totally destroyed. Among the losses were valuable books and manuscripts from professors' offices in the building.
A representative from Dartmouth College’s nascent community of film enthusiasts was on-site with a motion picture camera as the sun rose that morning. The resulting reel of 16mm film lives in the Rauner Library’s film collection today, and was recently digitized for all to enjoy. In it we can see the fire companies and their pumpers in the minutes beforehand after the collapse of the bell tower. We can also catch a glimpse of the Hanover Inn beyond the onlooking crowds about a minute and forty-five seconds in.
