Fire at Wesleyan’s North College – Today in History: March 1
Ruins of North College, Wesleyan University, Middletown

Ruins of North College, Wesleyan University, Middletown - Connecticut Historical Society


On March 1, 1906, North College at Wesleyan University in Middletown was destroyed by fire. Built in 1825 by the American Literary, Scientific, and Military College established by Captain Alden Partridge, the building was one of the first two purchased at the founding of Wesleyan in 1831. At the time of the fire, the building was used as a dormitory and for offices; eighty-five students were left without lodgings. The fire started in an attic room used by “the Mystical Seven,” a senior class society founded at Wesleyan in 1837.

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