HISTORY
Decades of Delectable Dining From fine dining to epic food fights, Tabor’s iconic building has many tales to tell By Eliott Grover ’06 In 1897, the cost of a Tabor education was $8.00 per term. This
After Walter Lillard became Tabor’s fifth headmaster in 1916—
included room but not board as the school lacked dining facili-
the second date inscribed on the school seal—enrollment
ties. “Good table board,” the school catalogue told prospective
swelled. New facilities were needed to accommodate the grow-
families, “can be procured in the village at a cost of from $3.50
ing student body. A few weeks before Christmas 1925, ground
to $4.00 per week.”
broke on a project that would transform Tabor forever. Sited
By the early 20th century the school had dining rooms in Heath House and Tabor House, each one capable of feeding 25 students at a time (enrollment in 1900-1901 was 60 students, and only 44 in 1910-1911). “The diet is planned carefully to meet the demands of growing boys with excellent food, ample in amount,” boasted the 1920 catalogue. “The milk comes from a registered herd in a modern dairy … the water is from artesian wells in Marion and is officially rated as one of the two best supplies in Massachusetts.”
16 TABOR TODAY | Spring 2022
on the waterfront, the new building promised to centralize the residential experience while marking a huge step forward in Lillard’s vision of turning Tabor into the School by the Sea. To oversee the project, the school hired Charles Coolidge, a prominent Boston-based architect. Coolidge and his family spent summers in Marion, and he had a keen sense of the town’s aesthetic. His firm had designed several dormitories for Harvard, so he understood the importance of melding stately elegance with utility.
