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The Octagon at Amherst College

1848 establishments in MassachusettsAmherst College buildingsMassachusetts museum stubsMuseums in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
The Octagon at Amherst College, Amherst MA
The Octagon at Amherst College, Amherst MA

The foundation thus laid by Andrew Lawrence will hereafter sustain the instruments of modern society to draw from the skies a knowledge of the stars - to demonstrate to men the Glory of God, and the magnificence of His works, - and to show to their wondering minds that "the thousand brilliant worlds which circle round Him, are governed by one law, and that in wisdom 'He has made them all'"The Octagon at Amherst College was the first natural history museum and observatory on campus. Edward Hitchcock (President of Amherst College in 1845) hired Henry A. Sykes to build it. It was intended to be unusual, with its elegant dome observatory and the collection of materials ranging from meteorites to animals and fossils. The Octagon was constructed in 1847–48.

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The Octagon at Amherst College
Johnson Chapel Road,

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N 42.371416666667 ° E -72.519083333333 °
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Octagon

Johnson Chapel Road 5
01004
Massachusetts, United States
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The Octagon at Amherst College, Amherst MA
The Octagon at Amherst College, Amherst MA
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Amherst College

Amherst College ( AM-ərst) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher education in Massachusetts. The institution was named after the town, which in turn had been named after Jeffery, Lord Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of British forces of North America during the French and Indian War. Originally established as a men's college, Amherst became coeducational in 1975.Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution; 1,971 students were enrolled in fall 2021. Admissions is highly selective. Students choose courses from 41 major programs in an open curriculum and are not required to study a core curriculum or fulfill any distribution requirements; students may also design their own interdisciplinary major. Amherst competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Amherst has historically had close relationships and rivalries with Williams College and Wesleyan University, which form the Little Three colleges. The college is also a member of the Five College Consortium, which allows its students to attend classes at four other Pioneer Valley institutions: Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Among its alumni, faculty and affiliates are six Nobel Prize laureates, twenty Rhodes Scholars, Pulitzer Prize recipients, MacArthur Fellows, winners of the Academy, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Awards, President Calvin Coolidge, Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone, and other notable writers, academics, politicians, entertainers, businesspeople, and activists.

Prospect-Gaylord Historic District
Prospect-Gaylord Historic District

The Prospect—Gaylord Historic District is a historic district encompassing a residential area built up mostly in the late 19th century just outside the central business district of Amherst, Massachusetts. Contributing properties include most of the houses on Prospect Street, which parallels Pleasant Street, as well as properties on Gaylord and Amity Streets running west from Prospect. These houses are generally in late Victorian styles such as Queen Anne, although some, for example a workman's house at 24 Gaylord Street, are in a more vernacular style. A central element of the district is the Hope Community Church, a historically African American church built in 1912 for a congregation whose history dates to 1869. Funds for its construction were raised in part through the efforts of W.E.B. Du Bois. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.Amherst, settled in the 17th century, remained a scattered agricultural community until the early 19th century. At that time, the town center began to take on a more pronounced commercial character, and its importance in the town was cemented by the establishment of Amherst College in 1825. Prospect Street was laid out in 1824 between Amity Street (1703) and Northampton Street, the original main road to the Connecticut River. This area was built up with modest Greek Revival houses set on small lots, while North Prospect Street, north of Amity Street, was developed later, with larger lots and more typical Victorian styling. Gaylord Street was laid out as a private lane in the early 1880s, and was subsequently lined with Queen Anne and later styles of housing.