Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

Ferry Hall Campus

Making It Home Timeline

Campus sketch published in June 1913, Ferry Hall Almanack. Courtesy of Lake Forest Academy Archives.

Original campus building, first published catalog, 1869. Courtesy Lake Forest Academy Archives.

Campus in 1899-90 catalogue, after side wings were added in 1888.

Campus.

Campus, 1941. Courtesy Lake Forest Academy Archives.

Demolition of North Hall, 1986.

By Rita MacAyeal, Director of the Library and ArchivistThe original Ferry Hall building was built in 1869 on Mayflower Road between Cliff Ave. and Rosemary Ave. The four-story cream colored brick building was advertised as a luxurious, spacious building with modern amenities such as gas lighting and steam heat.

Faced with a growing student body, in 1886 the school added a small cottage called “senior house” as an additional dormitory, and then in 1888 enlisted architects Cobb and Frost to design a major building expansion. Large side wings were added to the original building which doubled the size of the school, and a new chapel was built. A gymnasium was added around that time as well.

The campus expanded again in 1902 with the addition of Smith Hall, a brick recitation building designed by Frost and Granger. In 1907 the Senior Cottage was remodeled and opened to accommodate even more students.

The final campus expansion occurred in 1929, when the school added two new Georgian-style dormitories: North Hall and South Hall designed by architect Edwin H. Clark.

In 1953, Old Ferry Hall Building was razed, and in 1962 the old breezeway was demolished to make room for an administrative center designed by architects Pavlecic and Kovacevic. After Ferry Hall combined with LFA in 1974 the campus was briefly used as a “West Campus” and then sold to developers in 1979 to be turned into condominiums and private residences (like the chapel).