Every morning, a deep, clanging sound reverberates throughout the campus, filling many a stressed student’s soul with yet another bad omen sure to come true — you are indeed late for your math test. To some, especially visitors, the ancient time-marker and weathervane adds one final stroke onto the picturesque Academy Building. Yet, the history of this Exeter landmark lies well beyond the trivial hours it marks: in the over 500-pound structure one can find stories of legendary professors, secrets kept on stolen goods, and even student rebellion.

A ray of sunlight makes its way through one of the wide, gridded windows. It was rather easy for all sorts of mediums to travel through the tattered glass — thin and chipped like mica, and in some places, several entire panes were broken.