Witherspoon Hall was considered the grandest dormitory in the country when it opened in 1877, costing $100,000 and possessing such amenities as indoor plumbing, an elevator for the transfer of coal and refuse, and private bedroom entrances to permit servants to carry out their duties without passing through their employers’ sitting rooms. Such residents as Woodrow Wilson ’1879 and L. Rodman Wanamaker ’1886 (who lived in the room pictured here) paid between $60 and $150 a year in rent; rooms in less luxurious, older dormitories went for $20 to $90. Though Witherspoon was built to accommodate the tastes of an increasingly wealthy student body, President James McCosh detested the “rich man’s college” label and soon ordered a more modest dormitory (Edwards Hall) constructed for students of limited means. Named for Princeton’s sixth president, Witherspoon was designed by William Appleton Potter and his partner Robert Henderson Robertson in a mix of High Victorian Gothic and then-nascent Richardsonian Romanesque architecture (a style that would be more fully realized in Potter’s Alexander Hall). For 20 years (until the erection of Blair Hall), Witherspoon’s imposing edifice formed the campus’ southwestern boundary and was the first sight of the University for anyone arriving by train. Today, after two complete interior renovations, Witherspoon Hall remains Princeton’s oldest dormitory that is still used to house students.
- To learn more about Witherspoon Hall, see quotation
#11 and Café Vivian picture #71.
- To learn more about John Witherspoon, see quotation
#3 and 11, and Café
Vivian picture #19, and 80.
- To learn more about William Appleton Potter’s
buildings, see Café Vivian picture #16,
78, and 127.
- To learn more about campus grounds and buildings,
see icon #1, 5, and 8,
quotation #5, 7, 9,
28, and 39, and Café
Vivian picture #4, 6,
7, 8, 16,
20, 25, 30,
33, 37, 40,
46, 48, 54,
58, 61, 62,
67, 68, 71,
78, 85, 87,
95, 100, 101,
102, 104, 105,
108, 109, 111,
118, 124, 127,
and 133.
- To learn more about residential life at Princeton,
see quotation #33 and Café Vivian picture
#1, 46, 62,
85, 127, and 128.
- To learn more about James McCosh, see quotation #9 and Café Vivian picture #6, 8, 18, 68, 75, 79, 95, and 101.