Full Circle: A Slice of Tabor History

This tree stood on Tabor’s campus for 120 years, growing steadily as the school changed around it. It was already a sapling when Tabor was founded in 1876, there when the campus officially moved to the waterfront in 1936. It survived the 1938 hurricane that reshaped the New England coast. It was there when Lillard Hall, the Chapel, and the Academic Center were constructed. By 1996, the tree had witnessed countless moments that shaped our school; but that year, it was removed for the construction of the Fish Center for Health and Athletics, with this cross section carefully preserved and displayed in the new building. 

Each ring you see marks one year of the tree’s growth—and one year of Tabor’s history running alongside it. Today, it offers a unique way to see and honor our past. It’s a reminder that even as Tabor grows and changes, we carry our history with us.

• 1876 Tabor Academy founded
• 1876 Clark P. Howland becomes first headmaster
• 1888 Elizabeth Taber dies
• 1893 Dana M. Dunstan becomes headmaster
• 1901 Nathan C. Hamblin becomes headmaster
• 1910 Charles E. Pethybridge becomes headmaster
• 1914 Present Tabor Boy built
• 1916 Walter H. Lillard becomes headmaster
• 1926 Lillard Hall built
• 1929 Hoyt Hall built
• 1936 Tabor campus moves to waterfront and Tabor’s first crew win at Royal Henley Regatta
• 1938 Major hurricane
• 1942 James W. Wickenden becomes headmaster
• 1954 Hurricane Carol
• 1957 Hayden Library built
• 1962 Converse Rink built
• 1963 Stone Gym built
• 1967 Wickenden Chapel built
• 1971 Academic Center built
• 1975 Johnson Arena built
• 1976 Peter M. Webster becomes headmaster
• 1979 Return to co-education
• 1988 Jay S. Stroud becomes headmaster
• 1991 Hurricane Bob
• 1996 This tree removed from site of Fish Center