Keeping Warm

1790

Lazy students discover an easy source of firewood. They steal it from villagers' woodpiles.

1798

A cavalier attitude toward fireplace safety causes a serious fire in Dartmouth Hall. Students fail in their attempt to extinguish the blaze with snowballs.

1815

Students ignore an administrative fiat and continue chopping firewood and fattening fowl in dormitory hallways.

1824

Wood burning stoves replace fireplaces as the main source of heat in Dartmouth Hall.

1857

The mercury at Shattuck Observatory drops to minus 39 degrees on January 4. This record holds for the next 13 decades.

1876

Reed Hall becomes the first College building with steam heat. Students are not thrilled with the new technology; College officials turn off the heat at night.

1907

Future Outing Club founder Fred Harris '11 spends his first winter in Hanover. He is unimpressed with the "stuffy rooms, hot stoves, card games, and general sluggishness."

1943

1961

Weather data compiled by the Shattuck Observatory show that the average dates of snow cover are December 1 through March 22. The average annual temperature extremes are 94 degrees in the summer and 20 below in the winter. August is the clearest month; November, the most overcast.

1987

Champagne flows when President McLaughlin dedicates the new College boiler. Thanks to the latest technology, the plant can be fueled with wood.

By the time Dr. Vilhjahnur Stefatissonwas on campus teaching arctic survivalskills, the College was doing a pretty goodjob keeping the winter day at bay.