In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded one-half by the Sippican Historical Society and one-half by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Due to the limits of funding, not all of the historic buildings were surveyed, but over 100 were catalogued and photographed. The results of the survey are in digital form on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website and in four binders in the Sippican Historical Society’s office (and at the Marion Town Clerk’s office).
Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. The Sippican Historical Society will preview one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture.
This installment features 217 Front Street – Lillard Hall. In 1926, the construction of Lillard Hall and the use of a private residence later known as Bushnell Hall represented an important step in the direction of forming a waterfront campus. Lillard Hall was dedicated on June 12, 1926 in honor of Tabor Academy’s fifth headmaster. During the fall of 1927, the clock in the belfry atop Lillard Hall was dedicated by Silas Howland in the presence of his father, Clark P. Howland, Tabor Academy’s first headmaster. At that time, the clock was one of only three of its size to strike the hours with ship’s bells, the others being at the Portsmouth Navy Yard and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
