Origins of Union Hill, Part 6

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
by frank.callahan

In 1851 a tall structure took form at the top of Union Hill and it quickly became the dominant manmade feature of southern Worcester as its multiple towers were visible from many parts of the region. Yet its creation was a complete departure from earlier visions for the prominent hill overlooking the center of Worcester. Earlier plans called for a residential neighborhood with substantial homes situated on large house lots. The apparent lack of buyers must have motivated the developers to donate a key parcel at the top to encourage development on the empty hill. As a result, the main story of Union Hill in the 1850s was the vicissitudes of the building’s owners whose ambitious plans were thwarted either by death or by poor finances and it was their idealism that gave the turreted structure the checkered history that became its legacy.

The first owner was Dr. Calvin Newton, a graduate of the Berkshire Medical College. In 1846, he founded the Botanico-Medical College in the center of Worcester. The Botanico-Medical movement featured the use of plants or plant extracts as medical cures. This early version of herbal medicine was controversial throughout the country and locally the college was met with derision. Somehow, Newton persevered and, in 1849, obtained a state charter to create the Worcester Medical College. Adequate space was needed to build his school and despite the scorn for this type of medicine, he gained support to build the college. In March, 1851, the College purchased three acres at the corner of Providence and Union (now Dorchester) streets. The purchase price was $1. (Wor. Co deeds, Bk 472, p.578).

The seller was John Pond, who previously had invested in several significant parcels on Union Hill with various partners.  According to Ellery Bicknell Crane in the 1907 proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, Pond made the donation of the land partly through the advocacy of Judge Henry Chapin, then Mayor of Worcester, and partner with Pond on this section of land.  Interestingly, The Worcester County Deeds documents show that the there was a $5,000 sale of the land owned by Pond though it may have been a separate parcel. (Bk. 472, P580).

With grand plans in mind, Newton hired prominent Worcester Architect Eldridge Boyden, who responded with the design of the three-story Romanesque building featuring towers and circular-topped windows.  Four imposing towers topped the center of the structure and four circular turrets jutted out at each corner.  Construction began in July, 1851, but lack of funding caused delays, so its completion was not until 1852.  That year, ten physicians, including one woman, graduated and the exercises were held in the auditorium, named Aesculapian Hall, after the Greco-Roman God of Medicine.   Dr. Newton died in 1853, which was a severe blow.  Because he was the college’s moving spirit, the college closed within two years of his death.

Catalog for Medical College

The building did not remain empty for long, for in 1855, the Ladies Collegiate Institute purchased it. Modeled after Mt. Holyoke College, the Institute had been founded the year before by Baptists in western Massachusetts.  Worcester Baptists must have seen the opportunity as they persuaded the college to move to Worcester.  The trustees quickly purchased two adjacent parcels of land for the planned addition of wings at each side of the building.  This was only part of its expansion plans, as there were numerous land transactions to acquire land atop of Union Hill.  e purchases were secured by loans which ultimately contributed to the demise of the college.  In 1856, banks nationwide were failing because they loaned far more money than they could back up.  The resulting lack of credit forced shopkeepers to accept only cash payments, and a major recession known as the Panic of 1857 ensued. The first classes commenced in September 1, 1856, but the credit crisis was taking its toll.  The next year a full page advertisement in the City Directory appeared with a lithograph of the building.  Ominously, it stated that, “The Corporation need at least One Hundred Thousand Dollars more of donative property, to carry the full design of the establishment.”   Crane wrote that funds for the expansion plans were “not forthcoming” and there were numerous resignations of board members and faculty.  The south wing had been completed in 1858, but lack of funds delayed the completion of the north wing.  Because a request for funding from the Legislature was denied, the Ladies Collegiate Institute closed in 1860 at the end of the school year.Ladies Collegiate Institute

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