In the 19th century, Harvard Yard was not a tourist attraction. John Harvard was sitting alone, halfway across campus, and in his place the Yard was dotted with outdoor substitutes for indoor plumbing.

Then came a century of explosive growth in tourism worldwide, growth in Harvard's international fame and, most importantly, growth of the University's indoor plumbing system, which cleared the Yard grass for more genteel uses.

One hundred years later, tens of thousands of tourists will walk the manicured paths of Harvard Yard this year alone, and souvenir sales will put at least $500,000 in royalties into College scholarship funds.

However, a spike in tourist visits in the past few years has created a series of logistical problems for University officials as they struggle to both welcome and control this accidental industry.

History

Harvard Yard, now one of the most well-known tourist sights in the U.S., was in the 1800s a "private male bastion," according to Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. '59.

"There was no interior plumbing in the Yard, and so it was a private place," Fox said. "Except for Commencement, the general public did not enter, particularly women."

The Yard also lacked a centerpiece until the 1920s, when the John Harvard statue was pulled out of its original location near Memorial Hall and reset in its current place, under the flags of University Hall.

As tourism increased across the U.S. and the world grew smaller in the automobile and airplane age, visitors to Harvard also grew in number. However, Fox says tourists in the Yard were fairly inconspicuous until the early-to mid-1980s.

"The tourist industry in general has grown internationally," says University Director of Public Affairs Alex Huppe. "There are certain places that people want to see when they come to the U.S., and Harvard makes that list."

The University is ranked among the top five tourist sites in Boston, and John Harvard is currently the second-most photographed statue in the country, trailing only the Lincoln Memorial. (The Statue of Liberty is technically considered a monument.)

The faces behind the cameras have also changed over the years, according to Square merchants catering to tourists. They say that the first wave of European and Japanese tourists has been supplanted in recent years by visitors from Latin America and other East Asian countries.

"We used to cater to Europeans--three years ago we had European flags hanging in here--but they just don't come in big groups anymore," says John C. Ballestas of J. August, a souveneir retailler on Mass. Ave. "It's mostly Koreans and Brazilians now."

Ballestas says that in his estimation most tourists in large groups from these countries are upper-middle class, with the true upper classes choosing to travel in much smaller groups of six to 10.

The majority of Harvard's tourist load appears while most students are gone--the peak season is the months of June and July, with numbers dropping off sharply after Labor Day.