Stickney Hall
Stickney Hall, also called the Campus Cottage, was a nondescript wooden building that served many purposes. It originally stood to the south of Seabury Hall, and was later moved south of Boardman Hall. It was demolished to make way for the McCook Academic Building.
After the old gymnasium, which stood at about the site of the Smith House, burned down, an exact replica was erected to the south of Seabury Hall to provide a French classroom, a mechanical drawing room, and a reading room. The students called this building “Martin Hall” for Professor Winfred R. Martin, whose French classroom was located there. In 1902, it was replaced by a commons building of two stories. The students called the new commons “Stickney Hall” for Mr. and Mrs. Stickney, who managed the college dining facilities from 1900 until World War I. 1)
Originally intended to be a temporary structure, Stickney stood on the Long Walk until 1931, when it was moved to make way for Cook Commons (later the Hamlin Dining Hall). The Brownell Club, which was organized in 1948, established a room in Stickney Hall in 1950. The structure was demolished in 1962 to make way for McCook Academic Building, which stands on the same site.
Generally, students did not favor temporary structures like Stickney Hall, which included Jarvis Scientific Laboratory and Boardman Hall, as they continually deviated from the Burges Plan. In March 1891, students voiced their dissatisfaction at seeing Trinity's proposed campus advertised in encyclopedias and magazines, while in actuality, much of it was still yet to be constructed: “the part of the planned great quadrangle already built is one of the finest scholastic buildings in the country and it would be a pity as Trinity grows to see the original plans given up and inferior buildings substituted.” 2)
A Trustees meeting held on March 15, 1889 had discussed the needs of the growing College, which presently had more students than it could accommodate. The Trustees felt that erecting smaller, temporary buildings was the best measure, rather than limiting enrollment: “the grounds which were originally allotted to the permanent buildings which were contemplated, and of which a portion has been erected, should not be encroached upon; but that they be left unoccupied at present, in order to invite the benefactions of those who may desire to erect memorials in connection with the College.” 3)
Sources
Trinity College in the Twentieth Century (2000) by Peter and Anne Knapp, pp. 47, 125.
The History of Trinity College (1967) by Glenn Weaver, p. 236.
Trinity Tablet, March 1891.
Trinity Trustees Minutes, Vol. 2, 1888-1907.