College Grove
- Name
- College Grove
- About
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The term College Grove formerly referred to several wooded areas on campus, including Jackson's Garden and the area east of where Schaffer Library now stands. A variety of other sites important to campus life in the nineteenth century were also located in the Grove, including the running track and Lover's Lane (the name once given to a tree-lined portion of South Lane).
In 1899, the College, ever in need of money, sold much of the land (a total of 75 acres) that was once extended from the eastern end of campus to the Schenectady Realty Company, a subsidiary of the recently formed General Electric Company. Mrs. Perkins, who was fond of the woods, was saddened by the sale, but she understood its necessity. "We are beginning to sell off our dear land; the Electrics are going to buy all above Union Avenue and make a place like Lewellen or Orange park, with their own nice houses and the ground kept pretty and Park like. If we must sell (and we must) that would be the most agreeable plan [sic]" (March 28, 1899). Union received $57,000 for the land, which included a quarry as well as the woods, and the transaction cleared its immediate debts.
The residential GE Realty Plot to the east of campus retains much of its park-like character and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Over time, the remainder of the College Grove on Union's campus was filled with academic buildings and athletic facilities and fields. - Images
- These images are from the Union College Postcard collection. You can view both front and back of these postcards and more information in our digital collections database on New York Heritage below.
- College Grove, circa 1910. (top)
- Lovers' Lane, circa 1910. (bottom)
- Medium
- Interactive map
Part of College Grove