History

The daughter of a sailor and ship owner, Elizabeth Sprague Pitcher spent her childhood on the shores of Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts. Possessing a deep-rooted faith in the power of education Elizabeth became a teacher at the age of 14. After marrying Stephen Taber, a successful clock maker and whaling investor, Elizabeth left her hometown of Marion, settling just a few miles away in New Bedford.

As she entered her eighth decade she felt herself being drawn back to Marion. Elizabeth became the town’s most significant benefactress, credited with funding several buildings including the town’s library and Marion Music Hall. However, none had a more enduring impact on Marion’s transformation than the coeducational academy she founded in 1876 - Tabor Academy.

Elizabeth sited Tabor on present-day Spring Street in two Victorian structures. Wanting “to provide better and more complete facilities for the thorough education and training of youth in the higher branches,” she hired Yale graduate Clark P. Howland as headmaster and opened Tabor Academy as a private school for boys and girls over 12 years of age. She lived on campus and played an active role in guiding the school’s development until her death in 1888. Through her will, Elizabeth appointed a board of trustees and charged the school to “always improve itself.”

Tabor was not immune to the significant financial catastrophes that swept across the country in the early 20th century, and it fell to a visionary new headmaster to attempt to correct the course.

Walter H. Lillard perceived that Marion’s waterfront location held the key to Tabor’s future. He immediately charted a course to steer the school closer to the sea, both physically and programmatically. During Lillard’s tenure, the campus moved to its current location and many signature programs that distinguish Tabor today––including nautical sciences, water sports, and the Tabor Boy program––took shape.

Lillard was also a staunch believer in experiential learning and international exchanges and his initiatives established Tabor as a leader in global education.

The official school seal was designed by Clifford H. Riedell, Class of 1902. At that time, the school did not yet have the Tabor Boy, and so Clifford designed the seal using the image of Fleet Wing, formerly owned and sailed by Captain Hiram Nye of Marion, Mass. The Seal depicts a ship fully prepared to serve anywhere on the seven seas, combined with the motto, All-A-Taut-O. The year of 1916 that appears opposite the founding year was chosen to Commemorate the reorganization of Tabor that coincided with its 40th anniversary and honor when Tabor became known as both a national and international school, as well as when the school adopted the tagline of, "School and the Sea," which has since been adapted as School by the Sea.

It stands as a formal and ceremonial mark within Tabor's brand toolkit, used for special events, formal invitations, official documents, and other celebratory occasions.

The original Tabor Boy was an 88-foot auxiliary schooner, purchased to better support Tabor's deep water cruising program. This program would grow exponentially in the following years. In 1933 the Tabor Boy would navigate intercoastal waterways, sailing to the Chicago World's Fair and in 1941, empowered by an act of Congress, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox designated Tabor Academy as a Naval Honors School.

To accommodate the increasingly popular cruising program, the Edlu II, a 68-foot yawl replaced the original in 1945 and in 1953 Tabor acquired Bestevaer, a former Dutch North Sea pilot schooner. The schooner was rechristened Tabor Boy and still sails today.

In 1926 construction of Lillard Hall is completed and becomes the center of campus life. Hoyt Hall would follow two years later in 1928, adding a gymnasium, theater, boathouse, and school store.

In 1936, Tabor traded its Spring Street real estate to the Town of Marion and received three buildings on Front Street across from Hoyt Hall in a landmark property exchange known as "The Swap," furthering the vision for a waterfront campus.

The mid-century was a time of great expansion for the campus, adding the Hayden Science and Library building (1957), Converse Rink, an open-air ice rink (1962), Stone Gymnasium (1963), Wickenden Chapel (1968), Academic Center (1972), and the Howard Johnson Arena (1977).

The turn of the century brought with it a number of invigorating updates to existing programs and resources, particularly the arts, athletics, and marine and nautical sciences. The Fireman Performing Arts Center (1991), the Schaeffer Oceanology Laboratory (1995), and the Fish Center for Health and Athletics (1999).

In 2005 the Marine and Nautical Science (MANS) Center is completed, 2016 introduced the inaugural class of Tabor's Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 2023 the Travis Roy Campus Center is dedicated.

Tabor has continuously sought to develop its programs and facilities, designing a productive and purposeful environment.

Our administration and faculty commit themselves to balancing high demands with genuine affection for their students and to fostering relationships founded on compassion, personal integrity, and trust. Students are empowered to explore myriad opportunities and discover their passions through active, place-based learning.

As the "School by the Sea," Tabor sustains a unique heritage that embodies thoughtful preparation for and awareness of the wider world, perseverance, courage, good humor, a sense of direction, and humility.