Oregon State Agricultural College - Corvallis, OR - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

OREGON STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 9th, 30th, Monroe, and Washington Sts., occupies a campus of 189 acres, exclusive of farm and forest lands, divided into East Campus, and East, West, Men's, and Women's Quadrangles, with several groupings of buildings not designated by quadrangles. Each section is landscaped with trees and shrubs that beautify the campus and serve as a living laboratory for horticultural study. Among the thirty-six buildings of the institution are the schools of agriculture, commerce, engineering, home economics, forestry, pharmacy, and education. With the exception of five of the older structures the principal buildings have been erected since 1908 and are of harmonious design. Brick and terra cotta are the materials most used, and the Neo-Classic style of architecture predominates. Corvallis College, an outgrowth of a community school started in 1852, was co-educational and included primary and secondary grades. The school passed into the control of the Methodist Church, South, in 1865. Three years later Congress authorized a land grant to colleges offering instruction in agricultural and mechanical arts and military tactics, and in the same year the state legislature designated Corvallis College for the purpose. The first class under this arrangement was graduated in 1870. In 1885 the state assumed control of the institution, and in 1887, the first unit was built on the present campus.

Oregon State University has been known by different names over the decades. In 1888, the college informally became known as Oregon Agricultural College (OAC), a name not made official until 1907. Orange was adopted as the school color, with black as the background. The Olmsted Brothers developed the first Campus Master Plan in 1909 via 60-page report, emphasizing trees and an architectural harmony showcasing basic classical forms in brick. Today, the current campus stays mostly integrated to this original campus plan, laid on a grid of wide, tree-lined streets with the well-spaced buildings highlighted by open lawns and tall, clustered trees. The harmony in the campus-wide architecture was made all the more apparent by its principle architect, John V. Bennes. Over thirty of his projects remain on the campus today.

The university's current title, Oregon State University, was adopted on March 6, 1961 by a legislative act signed into law by Governor Mark Hatfield.

My posted coordinates place you at the corner of SW 15th Street and SW Jefferson Way where there is an interpretive display of OSU, along with a map highlighting the campus's National Historic District, one of only two campus National Historic Districts in the country.