Stones, bells, and stars in Alfred

By Kathryn Ross

Dating from 1836, the campus of Alfred University in Alfred is not only the home of art, music and ceramics, it is also the site of several historically, architecturally and astronomically interesting buildings which can readily be seen and enjoyed by the public.

The University campus occupies the east side of the village of Alfred while Alfred State College is located on the west side of Main Street. The Washington Post recently named the village the friendliest college town in the country; Feb. 2023. The University was officially chartered in 1857, but before that in 1836, it was the site of one of the first “select“ schools in Allegany County. The village was founded in 1808 and incorporated in 1881.

When visitors enter the campus through the stone pillars on Saxon Drive, they are immediately greeted by a towering statue of King Alfred the Great the college’s and village’s and town’s namesake, known for his progressive views on education in the late 800s.

When the school opened it was one of the first to accept women, blacks and indigenous people a tradition that continued when the college was chartered.

From those first years, one of the remaining buildings is Alumni Hall built in 1851 in the Greek Revival style and used as a chapel, meeting hall and educational center. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Down hill and north, one will find the oldest public classroom in the town Kanakadea Hall built in 1889 and now part of the college campus.

Looking uphill to the north the campus skyline is dominated by two intriguing and mysterious structures – The Steinham and the Davis Memorial Carillon tower.

The Steinham was constructed from 1876 to 1880 by Prof. Ida Kenyon to resemble a castle from her native Germany. It is a crenellated stone structure containing 8000 rock specimens from the surrounding area and 700 local and foreign woods making up its interior. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

South of the Steinham, the Davis Memorial Carillon, is a massive steel tower that reaches four stories into the skyline and is topped with an arrangement of 47 bronze bells (the largest weighing over 3,800 pounds) which are played from a keyboard lower in the structure. It was originally built in 1937 from wood to honor a former college president and to house 35 reportedly antique and historically significant bronze bells which were imported from Antwerp by alumni. In 1953 the original structure was replaced with steel and later the lower stories were enclosed with glass. In 2004 it was discovered that the antique bells were fraudulent and of a more recent vintage. Regardless, for decades students and town residents have been serenaded by the bells at noon and on special occasions by resident and visiting carillonneurs.

Out of sight from the main campus, but just south, the Stull Observa- tory houses one of two of the second largest optical telescopes in the state. What began in 1876, the observatory was established at its present site in 1966. It is home to seven telescopes ranging in size from eight to 32-inches. All the telescopes are capable of general imaging and time-series photometry of asteroids, variable stars, transiting exoplanets and more.

The Stull Observatory is open to the public on clear Friday nights from 9 to 11 p.m. in September, October, November, February, March and April. In May, June and July, it is open on Thursday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight. Reservations are requested for large groups, call 607871-2208 during business hours.

In 1987 the Village of Alfred was named a His-