Holder Hall was the first major Princeton commission for the Philadelphia firm of Day and Klauder, which, over time, was responsible for designing 18 buildings on campus as well as English gothic buildings on several other ivy league schools.
Construction on Holder began in 1909. A U-shaped building I've portrayed its west facing open side here. The main building was completed in 1910 and its 140-foot tall memorial tower was finished in 1911. Just before the tower was completed a small dormitory named Hamiton Hall was connected to the main Holder courtyard shown here by an archway through a magnificent cloister, which was built in 1912-13.
The Lincoln Highway passes right in front of this building and roadsters would have seen the tower from a distance. Woodrow Wilson - president of the college in the early 1900's, later governor of NJ and then President was a motivating force in the building boom that created these buildings. He would also have been part of the controversy surrounding the Lincoln Highway and its route. I wonder if he had anything to do with choosing its route right through the center of Princeton?
This is part of another Lincoln Highway collage - I'll be adding images of some of the gothic details on the building including one of the gargoyles on the front.
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