In 1849 the board of trustees voted to purchase a farm one-half mile east of Hanover's campus. This land, overlooking the Ohio River, serves as the campus's centerpiece today. By the mid-1850s, Classic Hall was constructed on a bluff known as the Point, and College classes were moved to that location. "Old Classic" would be Hanover's signature building for more than 90 years. The Civil War, especially the Confederate maneuvers known as Morgan's Raid, came close to campus; faculty and students were alerted that the troops might try to burn Classic Hall. In 1870, Presbyterian Church officials proposed that Hanover College be merged with Wabash College, with Hanover becoming a women's school. The Hanover Board of Trustees rejected that proposal, as well as one from businessmen in 1873 that would have moved the college to Indianapolis and renamed it Johnson University. During Hanover College's first 50 years of operations, it had nine presidents, none of whom served for longer than nine years; five served three years or less. But after that, conditions stabilized. Daniel Fisher led Hanover from 1879 until his retirement in 1907. This stability of leadership ushered in a new era of growth. Fisher oversaw the construction of five buildings, including Thomas A. Hendricks Library (now Hendricks Hall). Named for Thomas Hendricks, an alumnus and former U.S. vice president, it is now used for classes and is known as Hendricks Hall, the oldest classroom building on Hanover's campus. Albert G. Parker Jr. was inaugurated as Hanover's 12th president November 27, 1929, less than one month after the stock market crash that precipitated the Great Depression. The economic hard times cut investment revenues and operational expenses had to be closely monitored. But this challenge provided the college with one of its greatest rewards. On December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II. In just two years, Hanover's enrollment plummeted to 164 students, including only 20 men. In the early morning of December 19, 1941 a huge fire destroyed most of Classic Hall. By 1946, the postwar enrollment at Hanover had more than rebounded. It had ballooned to 679 students, and the first great construction period of the college's history was under way. In 1947, Hanover began to admit women through its coordinate college, Long College for Women. Until the 1960s, all women who graduated from Hanover had their degree officially conferred by Long instead of Hanover.