Can You Identify These Photos?

These mounted sepia photographs were sent to me by a friend in New York who found them while clearing out a law office. The name of the owner is unknown. There are no markings on the versos. These are mounted on card. Overall dimensions: 11-3/4" x 10". Dimensions of mounted photos: ca. 9-1/2" x 7-1/2".

Photo 1.

Photo 2. There is a date—1891—over the balcony above the front entrance. Could this be a library?

Photo 3. This is a baseball game which suggests the college or school is for men.
The two buildings shown are the same as those shown in Photos 1 and 2, but from another vantage point.

Photo 4. The federal style house on the left suggests New England.


Among the institutions I've checked out without success are Amherst, Andover, Bowdoin, Clark, Colby, Dartmouth, Exeter, Hamilton, Middlebury, Norwich, Trinity, Tufts, Union, Wesleyan, Williams, Yale.

The answer is Phillips Andover Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.

New Hampshire's retired Architectural Historian, Jim Garvin, came up with the answer. Here are edited versions of two of his e-mails:

"Right after I sent you the message below, I became more and more convinced that those houses around the campus had to be in New England.
I decided to check Phillips Andover Academy, which of course would not show up in Tolles' book.
It's clear that Phillips Andover has almost entirely been rebuilt as a colonial revival campus. But at least the long building that appears in your photos 1, 2, and 3 remains. It was originally the academy's science building.
Here are a couple of links to photos that will show you how completely restyled the school became in the twentieth century. If you keep looking, you'll find both the science building and an old photo of the building next door--probably then the main academic building. I wonder what became of the Gothic chapel? Time for a field trip to Andover, I guess."

Earlier the same day:

" What an imposing institution this was/is! None of these buildings look familiar to me, but I agree that the setting and the smaller houses very much suggest a location in New England.
I've looked through Bryant Tolles' Architecture & Academe: College Buildings in New England before 1860 (University Press of New England, 2011). Despite the title, Tolles' book includes photos of many campuses taken well after 1860 and down to 2009.
Regrettably, the book includes nothing that I can recognize as matching the photos you've shared.
Perhaps you'd like to send these photos to Bryant directly and ask if he recognizes this campus. I'm sure that he would be delighted to see these great pictures."

I went to the links that Jim supplied and to the Academy website and found some photos of interest:




Science Building. See Photo 2 above.


Congregational Church. See Photo 4 above.


Principal Stearns' Residence. Could be white house on the left in Photo 4 above.