High Street Walk & Sterling Library at Yale University | New Haven, CT

High Street Walk & Sterling Library at Yale University. November 2025.

00:00 High Street Walk
03:52 Sterling Memorial Library
05:46 High Street Walk

Yale University has a rich architectural and social history, much of which is concentrated along High Street and within the walls of the Sterling Memorial Library. This area represents the intersection of Yale's private student traditions and its public commitment to massive, "civilizing" architecture. High Street is a central artery of Yale’s campus that was once an open city street before being largely pedestrianized in the 20th century. One of its most famous landmarks is the Skull and Bones Tomb at 64 High Street, the headquarters of the university's oldest senior secret society, founded in 1832 by William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft. The windowless, brownstone Egyptian Revival structure, built in stages starting in 1856, has hosted notable members, including Presidents William Howard Taft, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Further up the street, you pass the Gothic gateways of the Old Campus and Branford College, including the Memorial Gateway, which features the Yale motto, "For God, for Country, and for Yale," carved above the entrance.

The walk culminates at the Sterling Memorial Library, a masterpiece of Collegiate Gothic architecture completed in 1930. While many people mistake it for a cathedral, the architect James Gamble Rogers designed it as a "cathedral of knowledge" or a secular temple of the mind. He intentionally incorporated ecclesiastical elements, such as the massive entry hall known as the Nave, vaulted ceilings, and stained glass, to signify the sanctity of learning. The library features over 3,300 stained glass panes designed by G. Owen Bonawit that depict scenes from the history of Yale and New Haven. Unlike traditional cathedrals, these windows feature secular milestones, such as the founding of the college in 1701 and even modern 20th-century inventions like the telephone and microscope. Inside the Nave, the Alma Mater mural serves as an altar-like focal point at the end of the hall.

The exterior of the library is adorned with symbolic stone carvings and gargoyles that blend humor with historical gravitas. These include depictions of students huddled over books and a series of scribes representing the evolution of writing in ancient civilizations like Egypt, Assyria, and Greece. The library was funded by a massive 17 million dollar bequest from John William Sterling, a graduate of the class of 1864, which was the largest gift ever made to a university at that time. While the building appears to be a medieval fortress, the tower housing the stacks is actually built with a modern steel frame to support the weight of over 2.5 million volumes. Today, it remains the heart of the campus and a premier example of how architecture can be used to inspire academic pursuit.

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