The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Compton House

Click on image titles for larger views.

Institution Name: College of Wooster
Original/Historic Place Name: Compton House
Location on Campus: 816 College Ave.
Date(s) of Construction:

1873	original construction McCuskey, Kohn

Designer: John McCuskey
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Victorian, Regionalist/Vernacular (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, culture, education, engineering, history
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: frame

Walls:

Roof: slate roof

Function:

ca. 1873-present (2006)	private residence (college-owned since 1961)
ca. 1891-1961	president's house (specific time periods unknown)

Narrative:
Compton House is the historic home of the Elias Compton family located at 816 College Avenue. It was the former McCuskey home; the Comptons arrived in April 1891. The members of the family--father, mother, three sons, and a daughter--held a total of 75 earned and honorary degrees. The father was dean and professor at The University of Wooster, and all the children graduated from Wooster. The sons were college presidents, and Arthur received the Nobel-prize in physics. The daughter was a missionary whose husband was also a university president. The mother, Otelia, was elected national "Mother of the Year." It was a remarkable family, and much history took place in their house on College Avenue.

The College acquired the home in 1961, and since that date it has been rented to outside parties or College staff. Currently the college's director of security lives there.

References:

Notestein, Lucy Lilian. Wooster of the Middle West. New Haven: Published for the College of Wooster by Yale University Press, 1937. Reprint, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1971.

Siekkinen, George, Jr. College of Wooster. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1980.