Founded in 1851 by the Rev. Matthew Meigs, The Hill School was originally known as the “Family Boarding School” and was housed in an elegant estate formerly owned by Pottstown's N.P. Hobart. It was the first school in the country where students lived with teachers in faculty homes. By 1911, it had grown from an institution with two teachers and 20 boys to a school of 40 masters and 375 young men. In 1998, after 147 years of educating only boys, The Hill welcomed its first coed class. Since its opening, it has sustained a valued relationship with the community by sharing facilities and offering volunteer services, and it attracts talented young men and women from approximately 39 states and 20 foreign countries. Notable campus architecture includes the Alumni Memorial Chapel (1904), a gift from Hill alumni, and the Memorial Room (1921), a tribute to World War I veterans among Hill alumni that is now part of the technology-laden John P. Ryan Library. The Widener Science and Alumni Buildings (1933 and 1936) are named in honor of Harry Elkins Widener, class of 1903, who died on the Titanic. The Center For The Arts (1989) hosts cultural events by nationally recognized performers as well as concerts by the Pottstown Symphony and exhibitions by area artists in the Boyer Gallery. In 1998, the School opened the Academic Center; in 1999, the Dell Village Dormitories were occupied; and in 2001, during the School's sesquicentennial, the David H. Mercer Field House was dedicated.