Sheldon Court a few years after its completion in 1903. Cornelliana A History Tour of Sheldon Court, a Collegetown Landmark in Brick Stories You May Like Why Cornell and Ithaca Were Once in Different ‘Time Zones’ Collegetown 101: How Ezra’s University Shaped a Neighborhood Collegetown Eateries and Watering Holes: A Celebration Built by an alum as an upscale student boarding house, it has also hosted iconic retailers of books, bagels, and beyond By Joe Wilensky “Cornell’s First Dormitory,” a 1903 newspaper ad proclaimed, describing the new structure as “built to fill a long-felt want at Cornell.” The ad highlighted the electric desk lamps, Mission-style furniture, tile and marble lavatories, telephone connections in each room, and fireplaces in most suites. The cost per year, including services and utilities: $150. Nearly a century and a quarter later, that building—Sheldon Court—remains a Collegetown landmark. And its ground-floor retail space has housed some of the neighborhood’s most enduring businesses over the decades, from the Triangle Bookshop to Collegetown Bagels. Collegetown Bagels moved into the renovated ground floor in 2020. While it now shares a dense stretch of College Avenue with the Schwartz Center next door and the towering, redeveloped Chacona Block across the street, Sheldon Court once dominated the landscape—and was in the vanguard of student living. Sheldon Court once dominated the Collegetown landscape—and was in the vanguard of student living. When it was built in the early 20th century, there were no on-campus residence halls for male students and the relatively few women were housed in Sage Hall. A handful of men had lived in Morrill and White halls in the University’s early years, while others (along with some faculty) resided in what’s now Cascadilla Hall. But the rest had to find off-campus accommodations, many lodging in homes downtown. The building debuted with then-modern amenities ... ... and even boasted a tennis court out back. Collegetown boarding houses were therefore gaining popularity: they were much closer to campus than downtown digs, offered group meals, and obviated those long early-morning uphill hikes. Seeing an opportunity, local entrepreneur Charles Sheldon Jr. 1901, MA 1902, and his father commissioned the distinctive L-shaped brick building on the site of a former student rooming house that had been twice destroyed by fire. Charles Sheldon Jr. 1901, MA 1902, and his father commissioned the distinctive L-shaped brick building on the site of a former student rooming house. The architect they hired was also an alum: Henry Wilkinson 1890, who would shortly afterward design the now-historic Harperley Hall apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Huge by boarding-house standards, Sheldon Court was touted as a modern, fireproof structure with space for more than 100 residents on three floors of singles and suites. It included modern bathrooms, an expansive dining room, and even an outdoor tennis court. Wikimedia CommonsA comfort-food restaurant, seen on a 1915 postcard ... ... and a ground-floor barbershop in the 1930s. Stories You May Like Why Cornell and Ithaca Were Once in Different ‘Time Zones’ Collegetown 101: How Ezra’s University Shaped a Neighborhood It was also conveniently situated—just over the bridge from campus and adjacent to a streetcar line. Early tenants in its retail spaces included the Mother’s Kitchen restaurant, a barber shop, and the famed Triangle Bookshop, which Charles Jr. also founded. After he died young of typhoid fever in 1908, his widow continued to run the building as a private men’s dormitory until World War II. Use the slider to compare views more than 100 years apart. (Charles Sr. would go on to lose another Cornellian son, Franklin Sheldon 1891. Grief-stricken, he endowed a marble monument in their name on campus; the Sheldon Memorial Sundial still stands outside Goldwin Smith.) The University began leasing Sheldon Court’s residential floors in 1943—initially as housing for male freshmen—and purchased the property in 1955. In the mid-1960s, the Cornell Store (as it’s now known) moved its non-academic departments into its ground floor, forcing Triangle to relocate across the street; the shop continued to operate for another four decades. A Century of Sheldon Snapshots Students cross the bridge to campus in the early 1900s. A large dining room served residents. A student room, 1930. In the 1970s, retail tenants included the Bike Rack. Looking north along College Avenue in the 1970s. During renovations that added a fifth floor in 1981–82. The patio hosted an outdoor art installation by artist Patrick Dougherty in 2006. Neighborhood favorite CTB now occupies most of the retail space. A current view from the Schwartz Center next door. Various retail tenants have occupied the building’s ground floor spaces over the years, including the Squire Shop, the Bike Rack, Student Agencies, House of Shalimar, Cravings Ice Cream Shop, and Kaplan Test Prep. By the early 1970s, the upper floors were in need of repairs and upgrades to meet modern codes and student housing standards. The rooms ceased to be offered as University housing; some spaces were leased to businesses and agencies or used as studios. In 1981–82, the University did a major renovation, including upgrading the plumbing, electricity, and heating. The project added not only an elevator—in a new concrete-and-glass structure at the rear—and modern fire alarm and sprinkler systems, but an entire fifth floor. Today, the building houses 164 transfer and upperclass students—and its current ground-floor tenant is another neighborhood icon. In late 2019, Collegetown Bagels faced the imminent closure of its longtime home when the original Chacona Block building, at the corner of College and Oak avenues, was slated for demolition. An elevator was added to the rear in the early ’80s. Signing a 10-year lease with the University, CTB moved across the street into nearly 5,000 square feet of space in Sheldon Court. During renovations, much of the original brickwork, including several fireplaces, was uncovered. The remodeled space has leaned into the vintage look—with the historic details that charmed early 20th century students now visible to today’s Cornellians. Top: Sheldon Court a few years after its completion in 1903. (Vintage images by Rare and Manuscript Collections; modern photos by Jason Koski / Cornell University, unless otherwise indicated.) Published September 23, 2026 Do you have memories of Sheldon Court? Comments Traci N., Class of 1988 27 Sep, 2026 Indeed! My roommate Gail and I lived on the fifth floor of Sheldon Ct in 1985-86 (Gail got a great number in the room lottery, which was lucky because Sheldon Court was the most popular dorm for sophomores). We had no idea that our floor was so new! We loved its location and (at the time) the pizza shop and ice cream shop on the ground floor. We could get to those shops using the staircase and their back entrances, without ever venturing outside–very convenient in the depths of winter! The windows had (at the time) fancy blinds that were between the 2 panes of glass, so they never needed dusting. Early in the fall semester of 1985 someone fell out a window on the back side of Sheldon Court and into a utility stairwell, and was hurt quite badly. Interestingly, I have since learned that College Ave used to be named Heustis St, after a Collegetown landlord named Lorenzo Scott Heustis–who turns out to be my great-great-great-granduncle! Reply Jeremy, Class of 2002 30 Sep, 2026 My student job, circa 1998-2002, was in the mail room of Sheldon Court. I can pretty precisely date those memories because people living there were still getting those Columbia CD Club albums in the mail. They came in very distinctive mailers and they were all mailed out to members on the same date, so on the same day like 30 or 40 people living there would all get their new CDs. Reply Adam E Sieminski, Class of 1969 15 Oct, 2026 If you look closely at the window below the “Triangle Book Shop” sign in the first picture — there is another sign for KODAKS. In 1965 there was still a photography shop inside. As a freshman in University Halls, I spent a part of the fall semester washing dishes at a fraternity house to earn the money to buy a Nikon F Photomic T black-body. They sold film there, of course, and you could arrange to get it developed and printed. I still have the photos and negatives from my 1965-71 years at Cornell. Reply John McCarthy, Class of 1979 18 Oct, 2026 I worked in Student Agencies Laundromat, news stand and pinball arcade for a number of years in the late 1970s. Reply Jennifer Leeds, Class of 1991 18 Oct, 2026 In the fall of 1987 I moved into Sheldon Court as a freshman. I lived in a double on the second floor, across the hall from two women who would become lifelong friends. One married a guy who lived upstairs from us. At the time we had an ice cream shop and a pizza place in the building, which was quite convenient since the College Avenue bridge was closed for construction our freshman year, so getting onto campus to eat dinner was limited to crossing the engineering bridge. We ate at Sage dining a lot…. The performing arts center was being built that year, as well as the parking garage, so we lived under conditions of constant construction dust and noise, but we loved Sheldon Court as our home. Living in Collegetown as freshman was amazing, and living across the street from Oliver’s and Collegetown Bagels gave us own special community. We recently celebrated our 35th Cornell reunion and took a tour of Sheldon Court (complements of my cousin Gregar Brous, co-owner of Collegetown Bagels!) and took a group photo of about a dozen Sheldon Court residents from the class of ‘91. Considering how large our class turnout was for reunion (we broke the 35th reunion attendance record), the number of Sheldon Court residents in the class of ‘91 who attended reunion was disproportionately large, attesting to the closeness of our Collegetown dorm community. Sheldon Court was a special place to begin our lives at Cornell. Reply Benton Arnovitz, Class of 1964 18 Oct, 2026 I lived there freshman year, 1960-61. Three of us had a two-room suite on the second floor, facing the gorge and campus. I seem to recall that we were told that there’d been more acceptances than had been anticipated, occasioning Shelton Court being pressed into service for us, the overflow. It was handy, though, and I very much appreciated being there instead of in the characterless blocks of more modern dorms. Reply George Robinson, Class of 1964 18 Oct, 2026 I was also there during 1960-61 in a triple on the top floor. I thought it was because I sent in my room reservation late. Supervising us was Alex Volmer, our “dorm dad,” a senior who gave up a lot to keep us out of trouble. Yes, it turned out to be a better place to live than in the standard freshman dorms. And I appreciated not being on the meal plan. Reply Mike Tannenbaum, Class of 1975 18 Oct, 2026 Never lived there, but certainly frequented the businesses it housed (as well as adjacent ones such as University Deli, Turk Bros, and the infamous Steak Aroma (“slide down, please”) from 1971-75. Also delivered Domino’s Pizza there in Fall 1974. Reply David Goldfarb, Class of 1989 18 Oct, 2026 I’d be interesting in reading more about that streetcar line. Where did it go? Who built it, and when, and when was it removed? Reply Caroline Hecht, Class of 1976 21 Oct, 2026 For a time during the 1970’s (and possibly before and after), the Gay People’s Center was on one of the upper floors. Reply Steve Feldman, Class of 1982 22 Oct, 2026 Lived there in 1981-1982. Great building, wonderful location and incredible memories. Go Big Red. Reply Jim Morrow. BS ‘57 + MBA ‘64 30 Oct, 2026 I originally graduated from the Ag school in 1957. I signed up for the US Air Force via ROTC.While attending the Business school (MBA ‘64), i worked at the Triangle Bookstore. In addition to selling books, and stacking the shelves, I had to become very familiar with slide rules. Every new engineering student had to have one.-we sold Lots of them! My wife (BS home Ec school, ‘58) was a secretary at the Law school. We spent a great deal of time in Collegetown. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Alum Memorialized with Campaign to Promote His Made-Up Word Campus & Beyond CAU Lets You Go Back to School (Without those Pesky Prelims) Students Master’s Student Advocates for Afghanistan’s Girls and Women