University of Mary Washington Then & Now

A Photography Exhibition

Posts in the double drive category

“In 1936, financed by donations from graduating classes and private individuals (most notably Mrs. A. B. Chandler), gates were constructed below Monroe Hall at the Sunken Road entrance to the College.”1

Although the Sunken Road Gate is not the main entrance to the University today, it is still regularly used as an entrance to the campus. The main entrance to the University is the Double Drive Gate off of College Avenue.

Class Officers In Front Of Gate, 1948

Class Officers In Front Of Gate, 1948
From left to right: Lois Saunier, senior class; Barbara Haislip, junior class; Carolyn Myers, sophomore class; Sara Katherine Jordan, freshman class
"Class Officers In Front Of Gate," 1948, Centennial Collection, UMW Digital Archives, University of Mary Washington.


Sunken Road Gate, March 21, 2014

Sunken Road Gate, March 21, 2014
Jessica Reingold, "Sunken Road Gate," March 21, 2014, Personal Collection of Jessica Reingold, University of Mary Washington.

Show 1 footnote

  1. William B. Crawley Jr., University of Mary Washington: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 (Fredericksburg: University of Mary Washington Foundation, 2008), 33.

The Bell Tower was built in 2007 from the donations of John Chappell, a friend of President William M. Anderson. Also known as the Carmen Culpeper Chappell Centennial Campanile, the tower is the tallest structure on campus, measuring 88 feet tall. The money was donated in the memory of his wife Carmen Culpeper, who was a graduate of Mary Washington. 1 A small garden is located at the base of the tower with a garden and fountain dedicated to her class, the class of 1959.2 The tower was a symbolic and sentimental project as it was constructed in the last year of President Anderson’s career at UMW. As part of the graduation procession, the class of ’07 walked out through the arches of the Bell Tower. Before the beginning of the following fall semester, the incoming freshman class walked through the arches of the structure, symbolizing new beginnings.3

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Bell Tower, 2014
Jessica Reingold, Bell Tower, February 19,2014, Personal Collection of Jessica Reingold, University of Mary Washington

Show 3 footnotes

  1. William B. Crawley Jr., University of Mary Washington: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 (Fredericksburg: University of Mary Washington Foundation, 2008), 778-779.
  2. Ibid., 812.
  3. Ibid., 812-813.
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