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A newsletter for Nichols College alumni of the past 50 years or more
DORM LIFE It can be said that dorm life at Nichols College has, at times, overshadowed even the best of academic lessons. The all-male campus was structured to promote brotherhood and camaraderie in addition to preparing students to be successful in business, and in life. The strong friendships that remain to this day are in large part due to where, and with whom, you lived on campus. Prior to 1974, the largest dormitory housed less than seventy students. Residence halls are now constructed to serve hundreds of students. Most dormitories in the 60’s and 70’s supported less than fifty students, which seemed like the perfect number to many. This issue of the Golden Bison Bulletin provides a brief history of each structure, followed by recollections of the life they provided. There is little doubt that it will also resurrect many more. Black Tavern The Black Tavern was built in 1804 by Hezekiah Healy and opened as Healy’s Inn. The tavern also served as a home for the Healy family. At the halfway point between Boston, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, the tavern made an ideal stagecoach stop for travelers to rest themselves and their horses, have a drink and socialize. The tavern reportedly got its name when Hezekiah Healy painted the tavern black with white trim for easier building maintenance. Perhaps because it was hard to see at night, the tavern was painted subsequently white. The tavern eventually became the summer home of Dr. Charles Goodell, Hezekiah Healy’s
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Vol 5 Issue 1: Spring/Summer 2024
First Map of the Nichols Junior College Campus, 1931. Source: Nichols Junior College Catalog, 1931 – 1932, pg. 12 – 13, NCA. grandson and a well-known Methodist preacher. In 1946 Goodell’s widow passed ownership of the tavern to Nichols College. Nichols College used the tavern as an “annex” and the converted barn as living quarters for students from 1946 to 1983. In 1983, Nichols College deeded the building to The Black Tavern Historical Society for $1.00. Restoration of the tavern began in 1984 and the building was opened to the public in 1990. The Black Tavern remains on Center Road, located at the top of Tanyard Road. Budleigh Budleigh Hall was constructed in 1888 as a summer home for Hezekiah Conant, a wealthy Rhode Island industrialist with close ties to Nichols Academy. The Budleigh name referred to his ancestral home in East Budleigh, of Devonshire, England. The summer home contained more than 27 rooms and sat on 70 acres of land that also included barns, a cider mill, and several tennis courts. When the Nichols Junior College of Business Administration and Executive Training opened
in 1931, Budleigh Hall was renamed Budleigh Towers and used as a student residence hall. On December 2, 1931, Budleigh Towers was destroyed by a fire that started in a defective chimney. The construction of the new Budleigh Hall was completed in 1932. Each dorm room had running water and a wash basin, which were considered luxuries at the time. The new residence hall housed nearly 80 students. The president’s office was also located here until 1955. Today, Budleigh Hall is the oldest standing residence hall on campus. Center Hall Center Hall was built in the summer of 2007 and sits between Remillard and Budleigh Halls. Center Hall is a single story, single gender facility. The building has a large common room with a television. Center Hall features double and triple occupancy rooms with easy access to recreation facilities.
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