Uptown in Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Old Harrisburg Academy ⎯⎯⎯ Dixon University Center
Photographed by William Pfingsten, March 21, 2008
1. Old Harrisburg Academy/Dixon University Center Marker
Inscription.
Old Harrisburg Academy, also, Dixon University Center. . Founded in 1784 by John Harris Jr., through profits generated by his Ferry across the Susquehanna, the Harrisburg Academy erected this riverside campus in 1908. The school was officially incorporated through an Act of the State Legislature in 1809 and would become a preeminent private educational institution for boys within the region. The Academy was first located at the John Harris/Simon Cameron Mansion and later at the William Maclay Mansion and Academy annex building at Front and South Streets. Upon the sale of the Maclay property to the Bailey family, the Academy engaged in an aggressive plan to build a comprehensive resident campus that was properly equipped for college preparation. By 1942, declining enrollment resulting from the Great Depression and World War II required a reevaluation of the school's future. This campus was sold to the United States War Department that year for the establishment of an air intelligence school. In 1956, a series of educational consortia established the University Center at this campus offering continuing education courses to the local public, which continues to this day. In 1988, the State System of Higher Education, the oversight organization of Pennsylvania's 14 publicly owned universities, assumed the operation of the Center, subsequently purchased the site in 1991, and through a comprehensive campus-wide renovation project in 1993, relocated its operations to its new headquarters building which replaced the old Academy's Hunter Hall. The complex was renamed after Philadelphia philanthropist and founding System chairman, F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. , Top Photo , 1940 view of Hunter Hall, the original structure on the Harrisburg Academy Campus later replaced by the State System of Higher Education Headquarters Building. , Bottom Photo , 1932 aerial view of the Harrisburg Academy Campus.
Founded in 1784 by John Harris Jr., through profits generated by his Ferry across the Susquehanna, the Harrisburg Academy erected this riverside campus in 1908. The school was officially incorporated through an Act of the State Legislature in 1809 and would become a preeminent private educational institution for boys within the region. The Academy was first located at the John Harris/Simon Cameron Mansion and later at the William Maclay Mansion and Academy annex building at Front and South Streets. Upon the sale of the Maclay property to the Bailey family, the Academy engaged in an aggressive plan to build a comprehensive resident campus that was properly equipped for college preparation. By 1942, declining enrollment resulting from the Great Depression and World War II required a reevaluation of the school's future. This campus was sold to the United States War Department that year for the establishment of an air intelligence school. In 1956, a series of educational consortia established the University Center at this campus offering continuing education courses to the local public, which continues to this day. In 1988, the State System of Higher Education, the oversight organization of Pennsylvania's 14 publicly owned universities, assumed the operation of the Center, subsequently purchased the site in 1991, and through a comprehensive
Click or scan to see this page online
campus-wide renovation project in 1993, relocated its operations to its new headquarters building which replaced the old Academy's Hunter Hall. The complex was renamed after Philadelphia philanthropist and founding System chairman, F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. Top Photo
1940 view of Hunter Hall, the original structure on the Harrisburg Academy Campus later replaced by the State System of Higher Education Headquarters Building.
Bottom Photo
1932 aerial view of the Harrisburg Academy Campus.
Erected by The Harrisburg History Project Commissioned by Mayor Stephen R. Reed.
Location. 40° 17.68′ N, 76° 54.339′ W. Marker is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County. It is in Uptown. It is on North Front Street 0.2 miles south of Graham Street, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2949 N Front St, Harrisburg PA 17110, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and in the Susquehanna Valley. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Former William Penn High School (approx. 0.3 miles away); Italian Lake (approx. 0.3 miles away);
Photographed by William Pfingsten, March 21, 2008
2. Present Headquarters Building from Front Street.
4. Old Harrisburg Academy/Dixon University Center seen from the north
Credits. This page was last revised on June 24, 2024. It was originally submitted on March 22, 2008, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,722 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on March 22, 2008, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 4. submitted on April 9, 2011, by John K. Robinson of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
