College Pond

Introduction

Stream and pond of considerable size that used to be located at the northeast edge of the '86 Field and continued north to the top of a ravine [1].

History

During the tenure of President Ricketts, in February of 1905, the Institute acquired the 10 acre "Walter Phelps Warren" estate for $125,000 [2]. In the two years following, the Institute continued purchasing more land. A small 0.81 acre was purchased from the Troy Hospital and 1.41 acres was purchased from the Warren and Tibbits estates. An additional 10.6 acres was purchased in 1907 from St. Joseph's Seminary [1].

The total property of the Institute then became 25 acres (considering 1.7 acres was already purchased in 1877) [1].

The surface of the property was irregular, containing both a ravine that ran from east-to-west and a pond named College Pond [1].

In the years 1907-1908, the pond was filled in with clay. Clay was sourced from a large hill at the east end of the athletic field [1].

A street named Avenue B (present-day Sage Avenue) was cut through part of the old College Pond in 1908. Photographs of the College Pond have not been found. However, it appears on old maps from 1876 and 1881. Both of which can be found here. [1]

References

[1] https://archives.rpi.edu/blog/2015/02/26/continuing-up-the-hill-college-pond [2] https://archives.rpi.edu/blog/2014/06/06/continuing-up-the-hill-the-warren-property/