From Cottage to Campus: The Evolution of St. Paul's

By GREBORY O'BRIEN

As an ASP student walking from your dorm to Coit Dining Hall, or from Coit to Chapel, do you ever wonder how and when your picturesque surroundings came to be? Believe it or not, this 2,000-acre educational haven began with a few men and one relatively small house.

It all started with Dr. Shattock, a successful Harvard graduate. Shattock wanted both od his sons to attend a school in a strict, but rural environment. To fulfill his desires, he created his own school. Shattock began by having the governor of New Hampshire approve a land charter in the winter of 1855.

After a dispute involving the process of choosing the first Rector of the school, the small school committee agreed upon Henry Coit. For his monumental role as the school’s first proctor and his gracious decision not to receive a salary, the school named the Dining Hall after him.

A year after the school’s opening, there were no more than twenty students. Henry Coit was the teacher, pastor, and father. This small home-style school all changed when the Shattock family donated fifty-five acres of land to the school. But how did this fifty-five acre piece of land with only a few local students turn into a 2,000 acre campus with students coming in from all over the world?



St Paul’s decision to join the Independent School League, the oldest independent athletic association in the United States, ultimately led to an increase in students who desired top-notch athletics.

One of the reasons why St. Paul’s has amassed so many international students today is because of Francis Crawford’s efforts in 1866. Crawford hailed from Italy, which caused quite a stir at the time, especially after Crawford garnered mass success and went on to write over forty books. The release of this news incited students from all over the world to attend St. Paul’s.

Another turning point in the school’s history is the academic revolution it underwent in 1910. Samuel Drury took over that year and saw flaws with the school’s priorities. Drury wanted to maintain their current status as an “athletic powerhouse,” but focus on becoming more academically focused. Upset students claimed that the school was starting an “oppressive regime.” As a result, the school created stricter rules and regulations. This included less seated meals and a harsher grading system.

In the years following this ordeal, St. Paul’s began to expand in terms of diversity. More and more students poured into St. Pauls’s from other countries due to its growing reputation. And eventually in 1971, girls were admitted to the school. Now, there is a fairly even distribution of males and females.

After St. Paul’s had proved its success in the regular school session, the school decided it would further its advancement in educational opportunity. In 1958, the Advanced Studies Program (ASP) was introduced to give the most academically focused students in New Hampshire an opportunity for more learning. The main attraction was and still is that the classes offered are generally not offered at students’ respective schools. Another reason for the popularity of the program is its reputation. In response to how the reputation affected his decision to attend the ASP program, Steve Hodgson said, “Yes, the reputation had a lot to do with my decision to come. I heard a lot of great things from people in my school that went and are graduated now and knew it would have a similar impact on me.”
To this day, the program is still expanding, especially in regards to classes. This summer, an Introduction to Arabic class was offered for the first time. The Writing Workshop class has changed its curriculum as well. Livingston Miller, an ASP alumni and intern this summer said when talking about the differences he noticed with the program, “the Writing Workshop class has definitely become more rigorous, and there is now more emphasis on reading.”

In the future, it is expected that the program will continue to grow. Keegan O’Hern, an ASP student here said, when asked if he would recommend the program to others, “Definitely. It is a great opportunity for those committed to bettering themselves.” It is truly amazing to see how far St. Paul’s has grown both intellectually and in size. St. Paul’s reputation remains solid as does the reputation of the ASP; it is inevitable that St. Paul’s will continue to evolve throughout the years.