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Harvard University

Within a few minutes' walk of Harvard Yard you can see the college's oldest surviving building, Georgian Massachusetts Hall of 1720, and the only building in the United States designed primarily by Le Corbusier.

  • 6Buildings
  • 3Traditions
  • 1720Oldest · Massachusetts Hall
  • 1962Newest · Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

Planning the visit

  • Fly intoBoston Logan International Airport (BOS)

    Logan is about 8 km from Harvard Square across the harbour. The MBTA Silver Line and Red Line connect the airport to the Harvard stop.

  • Getting aroundWalking / MBTA Red Line

    Harvard Yard and its neighbours are best explored on foot. The Red Line's Harvard station opens right onto Harvard Square, a short ride from downtown Boston.

  • Colors and teams

    Students simply say 'the Yard' for Harvard Yard, the leafy heart of the campus where the oldest halls stand.

6 buildings to stamp

  1. Massachusetts Hall
    Photo: Muns (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Massachusetts Hall

    Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

    Harvard's oldest surviving building, a plain brick Georgian hall raised between 1718 and 1720. Built as a dormitory for 64 students, it quartered 640 American soldiers during the Siege of Boston and now holds the president's office.

    Built
    1720
    Architect
    John Leverett and Benjamin Wadsworth
    Style
    Georgian
    Today
    Offices and student rooms
  2. University Hall
    Photo: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    University Hall

    Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

    Charles Bulfinch, one of America's first great architects, designed this crisp white granite hall, built in 1813–1815 from Chelmsford stone. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

    Built
    1815
    Architect
    Charles Bulfinch
    Style
    Federal
    Today
    University offices
  3. Memorial Hall
    Photo: chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Memorial Hall

    North of Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

    A towering High Victorian Gothic memorial to Harvard men who fought for the Union in the Civil War. Under one roof it holds Sanders Theatre, the great timbered dining hall now called Annenberg Hall, and a hushed memorial transept.

    Built
    1877
    Architect
    William Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt
    Style
    High Victorian Gothic
    Today
    Theatre, dining hall and memorial
  4. Sever Hall
    Photo: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Sever Hall

    Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

    H. H. Richardson's mature masterpiece in Harvard Yard: a warm red-brick block of rounded arches and carved brickwork from the late 1870s. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

    Built
    1878
    Architect
    Henry Hobson Richardson
    Style
    Romanesque Revival
    Today
    Classrooms
  5. Widener Library
    Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Widener Library

    Harvard Yard, Cambridge, MA 02138

    Built by Eleanor Elkins Widener in memory of her son, lost on the Titanic, this colonnaded giant opened in 1915. A grand flight of steps leads to Corinthian columns, and behind them 57 miles of shelves wind through ten levels of stacks.

    Built
    1915
    Architect
    Horace Trumbauer
    Style
    Georgian Revival
    Today
    University library
  6. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
    Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

    Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138

    The only building in the United States designed primarily by Le Corbusier: a sculptural concrete home for the visual arts, designed with Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente in his Paris studio and completed in 1962.

    Built
    1962
    Architect
    Le Corbusier
    Style
    Modernist
    Today
    Visual arts center

3 traditions to check off

Stamped! keeps these as a checklist, so you can tick each one off on the visit.

  • Touch John Harvard's Left Foot

    Touching the left foot of the John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard is said to bring good luck, and it has been polished to a golden shine. Guides call it the 'statue of three lies', and visitors often pose for a photo with it.

  • Read Both Sides of Dexter Gate

    Dexter Gate on Massachusetts Avenue reads 'Enter to grow in wisdom' on the outside and 'Depart to serve better thy country and thy kind' on the inside. Visitors can walk through and read both inscriptions.

  • Sheriffs at Johnston Gate

    For centuries, the sheriffs of Middlesex and Suffolk Counties have ridden into Harvard Yard on horseback on Commencement Day, traditionally through Johnston Gate. Visitors can see the 1889 gate, the Yard's main entrance, at any time.

Know Harvard University well?

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