Potter Houses from the Past
Where was the first Potter House?  How long was it occupied by the Club?

The first Potter House - 411 or 415 Washington Avenue
This part of the history of Potter Houses was provided by Carlton Coulter, President, 1935.  Carlton shared his vivid recollections of this history at the Potter Luncheon, Latham, November, 13, 2007. The site of the house is directly across the street from the back side of the Downtown Campus.  It is just West of the Unitarian Church.  The original house has been torn down and is now the site of an extension of the Church.  While the exact street address is not certain, the existing buildings on either side shown in the photos below are 405 and 421.
   
The house was originally occupied in the Fall of 1933 by five Potter Club members and a couple of non-members, and was called "Chiseler's Inn".  Housing for students in these days was oftentimes in private homes or privately owned houses that accommodated several students.  In 1934 the house was solely occupied by Pottermen, becoming the first official Potter House.  You may be able to see the current house numbers in the enlarged photos. (Click on each to see.)

                                                                Potter House - 205 Ontario Street 
                                     (Left below as it appeared in 1936 Pedagogue,  Right as it appears in 2006.)
This house, originally thought to be the first Potter House, was occupied by the Club in the Fall 1935.  The Club held its first open house in Fall of 1935; at the time there were 11 Potter upper classmen residing at the house. It continued  as a Potter residency until the Fall of 1938, at which time the move was made to 495 State Street.  This information from Norm Arnold, `40, who lived right across the street with Ken Haser, `40, in their Frosh year.   The earliest date of occupancy and details of the Open House has been confirmed by Paul Ward, `53, from University records.  There is some dispute about the correct address on Ontario.  Some sources say it was 203.  even 213 was mentioned.  The house pictured at 205 sits at the corner of Ontario and State Streets.  You may be able to see the corner of Brubacher Hall at the rear of the 2006 picture.  That area is vacant in the 1936 picture.  The building was apparently owned by the College.  After the move by Potter Club to 495, it was then occupied by Sigma Lambda Sigma, according to information on their web site (see links on our home page). 

                               

Potter House 495 State Street
This house (the one in the middle of the photo below, with the triple-wide front window to the right of the entrance) was occupied by the Club in the Fall of 1938 as the second Potter House.  Paul Ward `53,  confirmed from the research that the house was occupied until 1943. 
The State College News carried this following announcement  in its issue of September 30, 1938:
The Edward Eldred Potter Club will conduct a housewarming party at the new fraternity house 495 State Street from 8:30 - 12:00. Potter throws its doors open to the entire student body. Everyone is urged to attend.

Because of declining male college enrollment during WWII , Potter Club disbanded. In the fall of 1943 the house was renamed Stokes Hall and became the home to 18 NYSCT coeds.  According to Rosalie Pooler Stage, 1947, she lived in 495 State Street as a sophomore in 1944-1945. 

(As it appears in 2006)

There was no Potter House from 1943 to 1948. 
When the Club reorganized in 1948 the house at 415 State Street became Potter House.

Potter House 415 State Street
Occupied from 1948 until 1964
(As it appears in 2006)

What other locations served as Potter Houses?
The answer to this question seems to be that the Club moved from 415 to the then new Uptown Campus in 1964, occupying dormitory space assigned by the University, similar to what was happening to all of the fraternal groups.  If an organization had sufficient occupancy, the dorm or hall could be designated the fraternal "House."  Two dormitories on the uptown site, pictured below,  that housed Potter Club were Stuyvesant Hall, on the Dutch Quad, and Hamilton Hall, on the Colonial Quad.

                                  
                     Stuyvesant Tower                                                            Hamilton Hall

Waterbury Hall

Waterbury Hall, on the Downtown Quad, was the last residence of Potter Club 
sometime in the late 1970's and early 1980/81.
Downtown Quad, pictured below.




Waterbury Hall, Western Avenue

Were any other buildings "Potter Houses"?

We will continue this development of Potter House History.

Stay tuned for more information.  Do you have any you can provide?