He bequested a former hotel property to a failing Presbyterian secondary school in Minneapolis, Minnesota that became Macalester College and was named in his honor.

His Glengarry estate in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

While at university, he led a company of forty students to assist in the construction of a fort on the west bank of the Schuylkill River during the War of 1812.

[8] In 1850, Macalester purchased 84 acres of land in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia and built a grand country estate that he named Glengarry.

[9] J. Macalester bequested the Winslow House, a summer hotel in Minneapolis which overlooked Saint Anthonys Falls.

[13] He was a trustee of the Presbyterian Hospital of Philadelphia, the Jefferson Medical College and the Peabody Southern Education Fund.

[7] His Glengarry estate in the Torresdale neighborhood of Philadelphia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.