Harper & Brothers Publishers published an amazing book in 1895. It focuses on “Four American Universities,” specifically Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia. The 202 page book offers great historical context on each of the elite schools and includes over fifty nineteenth century illustrations of the schools. the piece-de-resistance of the book, however, are four fold out birds-eye views of the schools. In the pre-automobile era, each of the images show horse drawn carriages in front of the school and trolley cars.

Columbia University in 1895

The view seen above would look unfamiliar to the visitor to today’s campus because the view is looking North from Forty-ninth Street. The current campus in Morningside Heights opened in May of 1896. Rockefeller Center stands on the site of what is depicted.

Birds-Eye view of the Princeton Campus in 1895

The Princeton Campus along University Place shows a different campus than the one that exists today. Namely, several buildings were replaced over the years on the land that Rockefeller College now sits on: the Observatory, the old Tiger Inn and Reunion Hall.

The leafy campus of Yale as seen in the birds-eye view

The chapter in the book on Yale was written by Arthur T. Hadley who served as its president from 1899 to 1921.

We have a nice selection of Ivy League memorabilia includes Four American Universities on our website.