Cottages

In the first transaction for buildings between 1905 and 1915, the College made arrangements for housing the young men. Although it had provided a Boys' Home supervised by Rev. J. S. Hawkins and Mrs. May Elizabeth Hawkins in 1902, it had relied mostly on local citizens to furnish room and board for the boys. To provide living quarters for some of the boys in 1906, the College rented from Trustee R.B.F. Key three five-room cottages, constructed in 1902 across the street from the west campus, “to be used as young men's dormitories”. The number of cottages rented soon increased to five.

The College assigned a male teacher to room in each cottage and sponsored a form of self-government under the general guidance of a committee, consisting of a teacher and a student from each of the cottages; the student was “elected by his cottage-mates.” The College supplied “The Cottages” with all necessary furniture, but the students had to furnish “their own bedding, towels, etc.” and to care for their own rooms.

In 1912, the College planned to discontinue the use of the Cottages; the boys were to stay in homes near the campus with a Matron in charge of each. To be used as one of the boys' homes was a large house on Wilson Street, west of Dr. J. H. Bell's residence on the northwest corner of Twelfth and Wilson Streets, to be known as the Bell Annex. The house had been “practically rebuilt and furnished with modern conveniences''. In 1913, the College arranged also for Dr. Bell's residence for use as a boys' dormitory. However, some of the Cottages remained in use at various times. Specific cottages mentioned in the yearbooks include Cottage No. 5 and Yellow Cottage.