Gore Hall [Demolished]
AddressHarvard Yard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America, 02138
Site Number1018
Building Root Number
N/A
Historic CAPS Identifier HA9.96.1.1
PIRC Site Number 1018
Historic CAPS Identifier HA9.96.1.1
PIRC Site Number 1018
Architect (Original)
Richard Bond
Sponsor / Donor (Original)
Christopher Gore
Constructed
1838
Demolished 1913
Demolished 1913
StatusInactive
Materials for this building in our collection are not fully processed at this time.
Site Name HistoryThe site is named after Christopher Gore, Harvard graduate and Massachusetts Governor, who bequeathed funds of $100,000 for the construction of the building.Historical NotesGore Hall was the first library building at Harvard designed specifically for its function. Previously, the library collections had been spread throughout other buildings on the campus. The Gothic Revival building, designed by Richard Bond, was constructed in 1838 on the north end of the land known as the "Fellows' Orchard" and faced Massachusetts Avenue. It stood on approximately the same site as Widener Library. Gore Hall was built of Quincy granite and its design may have been inspired by King’s College Chapel at Cambridge University. The library collections quickly outgrew the original space and subsequent building additions and renovations in 1850, 1876, 1891, and 1895 failed to adequately address the growing needs of the University.
Gore Hall was razed in 1913 to make way for the new Widener Library.
Additional Information
Gore Hall, Library Building, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. 1850-1920. Boston Public Library, Print Department., Boston. Web. Local Accession Number: 06_11_000911
Gore Hall, for library, built in 1839-42. 1850-1920. Boston Public Library, Print Department., Boston. Web. Local Accession Number: 06_11_000904
Hurlbut, Byron Satterlee. A Guide Book to the Grounds and Buildings of Harvard University. Cambridge: U, 1898. Print.
Harvard College Library. Plans for the Reconstruction of the Library, 1895-1896. (1895). Harvard University Archives call number UAII 50.28.95.5 F
Bond, Richard. Buildings Papers on Gore Hall, 1840 and 1907 (1840). Harvard University Archives call number UAI 15.48, UAI 15.48.5
Harvard University. General Information by and about Gore Hall. Harvard University Archives call number HUB 1433.2
Harvard University. Gore Hall [photographs]. Harvard University Archives call number HUV 48
Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution. Hannah Winthrop chapter, Cambridge. An Historic Guide to Cambridge. 2nd ed., rev. ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1907.
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Harvard College, Gore Hall." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-6ba0-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
“Passing of Gore Hall, Once Harvard’s Festival Building: All Traces of It Will Soon Be Lost in the Construction of The New Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library.” Boston Daily Globe, 8 Feb. 1913, p. 9.
“Passing of Gore Hall at Hand: Historic Structure Dear to Harvard Men Soon Will Give Place to Widener Memorial Library Now Dismantled.” The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Jan. 1913, p. 30.
“Gore Hall Abandoned: Last Books of the Harvard Library Transferred From the Old Building --Wrecking to Begin at Once.” Boston Daily Globe, 9 Dec. 1912, p. 13.
“Gore Hall in Ruins.” Cambridge Tribune, 15 Feb. 1913, p. 9.
“Demolition of Gore Hall.” The Harvard Crimson, 14 Jan. 1913, https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1913/1/14/demolition-of-gore-hall-pthe-work/.
“Gore Hall Abandoned.” Boston Globe, 9 Dec. 1912, p. 13.
“Demolishing Gore Hall.” Boston Evening Transcript, 14 Jan. 1913, p. 13.
