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Tome School for Boys Historic District
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Tome School, June 2006
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| Nearest city: | Port Deposit, Maryland |
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| Built: | 1900 |
| Architect: | Boring & Tilton |
| Architectural style: | Colonial Revival, Other |
| Governing body: | Department of the Navy |
| NRHP Reference#: |
84001760 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | May 16, 1984 |
The Tome School is a private school located in North East in Cecil County in Maryland, USA and is one of the oldest schools in the state of Maryland.
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The Tome School for Boys, originally located on Main Street in Port Deposit, Maryland was founded by Jacob Tome as a nonsectarian college preparatory school for boys. It opened for boarders and received its first students in 1894. It was part of a system of schools that began with kindergarten and extending through high school that was collectively known as the Jacob Tome Institute.[2]
At Jacob Tome's death in 1898 he endowed the school such that in 1902 it is recorded to own both extensive buildings and to have a residual endowment of over $2 million. One of the results of the endowment was that between 1898 and 1902 the Jacob Tome School for Boys built a series of granite buildings on the bluffs above Port Deposit, overlooking the Susquehanna River. Architects William Boring and Edward Lippincott Tilton designed the structures in the beaux arts style. The 13 surviving buildings include Memorial Hall, three dormitories (Jackson, Madison, and Harrison), the Chesapeake Inn dormitory and dining hall, the Director's residence, the Monroe Gymnasium, and six Master's cottages. The tree-lined streets of the campus were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and converged at the steps of Memorial Hall.[3] Olmstead selected landscape architect Charles Wellford Leavitt to design the school's gardens.[4]
In the early 1900s Tome annually played football against Baltimore City College high school with neither school enjoying a competitive advantage over the other.[5] For example: in 1903 the City Collegians beat Tome 5-0, 1904 an 11-8 win for City, but in 1912 Tome shut out City 32-0 and Tome blanked City again in 1915, 37-0.
The school enjoyed a prestigious reputation for a number of years. Its students included R. J. Reynolds, Jr. (son of R. J. Reynolds) as well as children of the Mellon and Carnegie families.[3]
The school property and buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1984.[1]
In 1942, the Tome campus was appropriated by Congress along with the land from 70 surrounding farms for use as a US Naval Training Center, and for the location of the Naval Academy Preparatory School (which was located on the former Tome campus). USNTC Bainbridge was activated on October 1, 1942 operated throughout World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the Cold War era. It closed as a military facility on March 31, 1976. During 34 years of operation, USNTC Bainbridge graduated over 500,000 recruits.[3]
In 1942, the Tome School moved back to its original location on Main Street, Port Deposit. In the 1970s the school’s board of directors voted to change the school's charter and move the school to a new campus at North East, Maryland. The campus at North East is home to the Lower, Middle, and Upper schools (K-12).
The school is co-educational for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school's curriculum provides a broad liberal arts education for students in an environment emphasizing academic success, high standards of personal behavior, and full participation in school life.
The current Director and Head of School is F. Darcy Williams, PhD.
The school encourages student participation in sports, clubs, and organizations.