126 Kelvin Place

This large Dutch Colonial Revival home was built in 1909 for Gilbert D. Harris, professor of geology and paleontology at Cornell and founder of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI). Harris lived here through the 1950s, and the home remained in the family through the 1970s.

Harris operated PRI from his home for many years. In 1932, the cornerstone was laid for a new PRI laboratory at 109 Dearborn Place, next door to Harris' home. That building (a nondescript aluminum-sided structure visible from the road) was completed around 1942 and housed PRI until the late 1960s, when the institution moved to its present location near the Cayuga Medical Center.

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