Choate Rosemary Hall: Archbold Building (1928)

The Archbold Building, on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, was erected in 1928 and opened in 1929 as the school’s infirmary – the largest school infirmary in the country at the time. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram, the building was a gift of Anne Saunderson Archbold in recognition of the care her son received from Clara St. John, the headmaster’s wife, during a long illness when he was a student. After forty-five years as an infirmary, the building became a girl’s dormitory in the 1970s, when the school became co-ed. In 1998, the Archbold Building was renovated to incorporate the headmaster’s office and admissions offices, with dormitory housing on the upper of its three floors.

Wallace Hose Company (1895)

Happy Thanksgiving! According to the History of New Haven County, Vol. I (1892), by John L. Rockey, in 1888 Wallingford’s Fire Department “had 64 men, exclusive of its three officers, belonging to the Wallingford Hose Company, No. 1; the Wallace Hose Company, No. 2, with a house on the Plains; and the Simpson Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1.” In 1895, a new Wallace Hose House was erected at 9 South Cherry Street, at the corner of Quinnipiac Street, on land donated by Robert Wallace (1815-1892), a prominent silverware manufacturer. Today the building is used as office space.

Choate Rosemary Hall: Paul Mellon Humanities Center (1938)

One of the many Georgian Revival buildings on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford is the Paul Mellon Humanities Center. It was a gift of philanthropist and Choate graduate Paul Mellon, an art collector who also founded the Yale Center for British Art. Built in 1938, the building’s design by architect Charles F. Fuller has strong similarities to the Governor’s Palace at Colonial Williamsburg. The building was renovated in 1989 through another gift from Mellon.

Choate Rosemary Hall: Paul Mellon Arts Center (1972)

A dramatic example of Modern architecture on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford is the private school’s Paul Mellon Arts Center, also called the PMAC. Designed by I. M. Pei, it was completed in 1972. The western section of the building contains a 770-seat theater, while the eastern portion has fine arts studios, music classrooms, music practice rooms and a 100-seat recital hall. Connecting the two sections underground is the Chase-Bear Experimental Theater, known as the “Black Box.” In 2015, the School received a $10 million gift to renovate building, primarily the main stage theater, which was renamed the William T. Little ’49 and Frances A. Little Theater in honor of the donors.

Atwater Homestead (1774)

The house at 242 Christian Street in Wallingford was built in 1774 by Caleb Atwater (1741–1832), a wealthy merchant who supplied the patriot forces during the American Revolution. It was located on the Atwater property, which was in the family for many generations. There is a secret passage behind the chimney inside the house, which was possibly a station on the Underground Railroad. The Atwood family property, which became known as Rosemary Farm, was later the childhood home and summer residence of Caleb Atwater’s granddaughter, Mary Lyman Atwater. She married Judge William G. Choate. In 1890, Mary Choate founded a school for girls at Rosemary Farm called Rosemary Hall. The school initially utilized another Atwater family home, no longer extant, that was built in 1758. Soon other houses in the vicinity were rented for the growing school. William Choate also founded the Choate School for boys in 1896. The two schools were neighbors, but remained separate entities. Mary wold host dances for students of both schools at the 1774 homestead. Rosemary Hall moved to Greenwich in 1900, but would move back to Wallingford in 1971 and merge with Choate in 1974. Choate had acquired the Atwater Homestead from Hunt Atwater, a nephew of Mary Atwater Choate in 1933 and it has served as a dormitory since 1936. The school undertook a major restoration of the building, known as Homestead, in 2006.