McGraw Tower
Ithaca, United States
Exterior only
Visible from the street; the inside is private.
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McGraw Tower is a Richardsonian Romanesque masonry clock tower on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, designed by architect William Henry Miller and completed in 1891. Originally called Library Tower, it was renamed in 1961 to honor John McGraw or his philanthropist daughter Jennie McGraw, who commissioned the structure along with its adjacent library through a gift from Henry W. Sage. The tower was built specifically to house the Cornell Chimes, a set of bells Jennie McGraw had donated to the university in 1868; these were relocated from McGraw Hall, which could not support their weight. The Cornell Chimes represent the first college bell chimes in America and continue to play music three times daily during the academic year, with quarter-hour chimes rung between 7:00 A.M. and 11:00 P.M.
Architect
Movement
- Type
- clock tower
- Place
- Ithaca, United States
This building on
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Location