As is the case with most all great and important institutions, Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts, had its humble beginning. The founders would rather have located the school in the North Parish of Andover --- later identified as North Andover --- closer to their home but could not find adequate grounds there. Their search in neighboring areas led them to select two tracts on a hill in the South Parish.

In 1778, Andover Hill was far from being a popular place of residence. The early settlements in the South Parish had been along the Shawsheen River or on the gentle slope above it. On the Hill were small areas of poorly cultivated farm land in the midst of stretches of rocky pasture and clumps of stunted trees and bushes. Part of the territory was marshy, some almost swamp. During rainy periods the meadows were flooded until they resembled shallow lakes.

The future site of Phillips (Foxcroft) Hall was a boggy huckleberry lot which could only be crossed during the wet season by leaping from stone to stone. The enclosure in front of it was then a whortleberry pasture where people of all ages used to go to pick berries. The site of the main campus was filled with birches, alders, briers and berry bushes along the western side of which, near the road, was a low stone wall. The entire hill area was like the English Dartmoor, where the higher you go, the wetter the land seems to be. The fine view was not considered sufficient compensation for these inconveniences and the soil itself, of mediocre quality, had not lured many settlers from the fertile river valley.

Nevertheless, there were a few scattered buildings on the Hill in those early days. The road from Andover village to Salem ran through the center of the land and was flanked on the left by the stone wall mentioned above. An old carpenter's shop stood on the corner of Main and Phillips Streets. A short distance down Phillips Street was the old George Abbot house, a simple clapboard structure. This edifice was already old in 1775 when, at the time Cambridge was threatened by British Troops, part of the Harvard College Library was carted over the road and stored under its roof. A little further south along the road, on the western side thereof, was one or two old unoccupied buildings. The old Blunt Tavern was on the north side of Salem Street just past the present location of the Commons.

The two founders, Squire Samuel Phillips of North Andover and his uncle John Phillips of Exeter, started to acquire this property with their grand plan in mind. The first purchase consisted of two tracts --- 22 acres and 19 acres - which included an old house and the carpenter's shop which later became the first school building; these were deeded from Solomon Wardwell to Squire Phillips on January 24, 1777. This act was followed five weeks later on March 1 by a purchase of three separate parcels --- 12 acres, 28 acres and 30 acres --from Capt. Joshua Holt, administrator for the estate of George Abbot, Esq. This conveyance, which cost 600 pounds, included the Abbot house on Phillips Street; Squire Phillips moved in immediately with his wife to oversee the founding of his school. A third purchase ---two tracts of woodland totalling 32 acres --- was transferred from Nehemiah Abbot to Squire Phillips on January 12, 1778. These transactions provided a total area of 143 acres on which the Phillips family could establish their Academy.

Even twenty five years later this section of Andover was not much more densely populated. A description of the Hill was provided in Morse's "Geography" of 1803: To the south, on the Woburn-Boston Rd., Madame Phillips had as her nearest neighbor Moses Abbot, who dwelt in the old red house once occupied by Judge Phillips; to the north lived Joseph Phelps who carried on a store and boarded Academy boys in the house which had just been built by Judge Phillips on the south corner of Main and Phillips Streets. Between this place and the Old South Church, along the "meeting house road", there was not a single building. The site of Abbot Academy was then a woodlot, the present Main Street to the village was not yet opened and there was no road to the east of the Campus lawn. On Salem Street stood the "Blunt Tavern" erected by Capt. Isaac Blunt before 1765. A portion of the present Hardy House, then occupied by Capt. Towne, was standing on the same site on Salem Street, and across the road from it to the north was the home of deacon Amos Blanchard who took boys as boarders. To the south of the Academy building stretched a level lawn used as a training field for the town militia.

During the 211 years since their creation, the Trustees have participated in many more real estate transactions --- both of investing and divesting natures --- and have been the driving force behind a multitude of landscape changes --- most involving the erection of buildings and facilities. The total physical holdings of the Academy is presently comprised of approximately 500 acres and over eighty buildings.

The purpose of this book is to attempt to trace the development of this physical property over the history of the school as accurately as possible and with as many illustrations as are required to adequately relate the story.

As many of us were taught by John Colby, Frank Benton, Alan Gillingham, their predecessors and their successors:

Had Julius Caesar been asked to assess the Andover Hill area of the twentieth century, he undoubtedly would have responded:

Accordingly, the Academy will be subdivided into the four quadrants created by the intersections of Main, Salem and Phillips Streets for the organization of this book.

Northeast Quadrant - Area of the Great Quadrangle
Northwest Quadrant -The Cornerstone of Phillips Academy
Southwest Quadrant - The Residence Area
Southeast Quadrant - The Athletic Area

Unfortunately, or fortunately for the sake of variety, the various quadrants are not totally aligned along the descriptive titles assigned above --- these titles just describe the majority trend.

There are, however, three major Academy assets which have had no respect for the boundaries of these quadrants and have meandered throughout their evolution. They should be discussed as separate topics:

The Academy (Main) Buildings
Boarding Houses and Residence Concept
The Secret Societies

They will be addressed first and will be followed by the quadrant coverages.