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A Photographic History of Oregon State University

OSU Buildings

Contents of this tag:

Stock judging pavilion, 1912. This facility, designed by John Bennes, was used by the Animal Husbandry Department for the showing of animals and to afford students “an opportunity to examine, score, test, and otherwise study the splendid specimens” of the college stock and those of farmers and breeders. Unfortunately the facility burned a few months after completion due to a malfunctioning woodstove. It was replaced with a similar, but more modest, structure. The recently completed (2012) James E. Oldfield Animal Teaching Center, which has a large demonstration area, includes a number of design elements similar to the 1912 pavilion. (P25:1161)
Industrial Building fire, July 1992. The fire destroyed half of this building, including most of OSU Printing & Mailing Services’ facilities and equipment. The losses were valued at $1.9 million for the building and $4 million in printing equipment. The Industrial Building was originally constructed in 1947 to house the Forest Products Lab. The destroyed portion of the building was reconstructed in 1996, and the entire building was renamed Cascade Hall. (P120, Accession 2009:011)
College Playhouse, ca. 1951. The old armory and gymnasium building was converted to a playhouse for Oregon State’s excellent theatre program in 1950. It was renamed Mitchell Playhouse in 1961, in memory of C.B. Mitchell, longtime chair of the Speech Dept. and director of the theatre program. The building was used as the playhouse until 1990, when fire safety concerns closed it for that purpose. In 1992 it was restored with gift funds from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, and reopened as the Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center. (P16:814)
Cadets in front of Benton Hall, ca. 1892. What is now known as Benton Hall was the first building constructed on the original college farm, and has been the centerpiece of the eastern side of campus ever since. The cadet corps is in formation in front of the building in this photograph, perhaps to welcome the college's new president, John Bloss. In 1872 the college became the first in the Pacific Northwest to offer military instruction. (HC 38)
Mechanical Hall fire aftermath, September 1898. The fire that destroyed Mechanical Hall the night of September 26, 1898 was a devastating, but temporary, setback for OAC. Though classrooms, shops, athletic facilities, and electrical generating facilities were destroyed, the college persevered. The new gymnasium and armory, already under construction, was completed in early 1899. Through the efforts of regent and former legislator John Apperson, state funds quickly were approved for a new mechanical hall. A new powerhouse was completed in 1900, providing a stable source of electricity for the campus. (P101:517)
Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, ca. 1988. Opened in October 1988, it contains a smokestack from the 1909 heating plant that serves as a solar heated air return for the building’s heating system. The building was renamed Owen Hall in 1999, in memory of Professor Thomas Owen, chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. and Dean of Engineering from 1990 until his death in 1997. Today it houses the School of Civil and Construction Engineering. (P3, 1989 Beaver Yearbook photos)
Students and faculty assembled in the Administration Building, ca. 1905. The assembly hall, sometimes referred to as the chapel, was located in the middle of the second floor of what is now Benton Hall. In the first few years after the building was opened, the space was used for chapel services, which students were required to attend. It was also used for general assemblies, as well as lectures and musical performances. This area later became the library reading room. (P16:699)
Students working with farm equipment in the Farm Mechanics Building, ca. 1912. The building featured space for demonstration and operation of heavy farm equipment, machinery for testing farm equipment, and included a wide variety of representative machines. The 1914-15 college catalog stated “all of this expensive equipment is available to students in Farm Mechanics in the regular and short course work.” This building is Gilmore Hall today. (P47:1)
OSU Antarctic Station, 1974. OSU oceanographers studied Antarctic under-ice water temperature, currents and salinity as part of a National Science Foundation research grant. The four-member team lived in one of the ten feet by twelve feet huts in the photo; the other served as their workspace. In September and October 1974, the crew experienced air temperatures with a wind chill of more than minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This photo first appeared in the January 1975 Oregon Stater. (P57:4948)
Dedication of the Chemistry Building, December 2, 1939. President Peavy (front row, right), Governor Charles Sprague (front row, center) Chancellor Frederick M. Hunter (second row, second from left) and members of the State Board of Higher Education attended the dedication of the building – one of a handful of buildings built at any public higher education campus in Oregon in the 1930s. Board member Beatrice Walton Sackett is in the front row, left. Linus Pauling (not pictured) was also at the building’s dedication. (P16:733)