Skating Pond, Ladies' College
Ladies' College Skating Pond
There have been numerous additions, modifications, and demolitions of buildings at Mount Allison, and an equally frequent rate of landscape changes during the school’s history, but one thing that has changed very little on campus is the view looking east over the Swan Pond. This view offers a rare glimpse of the way an important part of the campus has looked for over 100 years. The shape of the pond, the fountain, and St. Paul’s Anglican Church across the street, appear practically the same today as they did in 1905. Aside from the sinking of the pond's second island in 1963, and changes in vegetation, little else has altered the landscape.
The Ladies' College pond was first excavated in autumn 1901, with funding from then Sackville mayor and Senator, and one of Mount Allison University's first two graduates, Josiah Wood. On 22 November 1901, the pond was filled with water for the first time, with the intention of providing a skating surface for the students of the Ladies’ College. By mid-December, the students were skating on the surface and, according to Mount Allison classics professor A.D. Smith, writing in the Saint John Globe newspaper (16 December 1901), sang as they skate, "‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,’ or words to that effect.”
A fountain was installed in time for the school's 1902 closing ceremonies, but did not take its present shape until summer 1905, when substitute Ladies’ College principal Raymond Clare Archibald initiated its construction. The signature fountain was designed by Ladies’ College art teacher John Hammond, and was hewn from two stones, each weighing over one ton, from nearby Pickard’s Quarry. A brass nozzle, which was used to project a fine spray, was purchased in New York, and completed the structure.
Ladies' College Skating Pond, ca. 1905
Mount Allison University 'Swan Pond,' 2008
Ladies' College Skating Pond, ca. 1905
Ladies' College Skating Pond, ca. 1905
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Sackville, New Brunswick
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This project was funded by the Marjorie Young Bell Endowment Fund