Additional information about the Benton County Courthouse is available
in the
Benton County Courthouse Scrapbook, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
The scrapbook was donated to the OSU Library in 1968 and described as part of the McDonald Collection.
The scrapbook was transferred to the Archives from the OSU Libraries' Special Collections in 2011.
Collection is open for research.
The Benton County Courthouse Scrapbook was assembled by the Benton County Court to document the courthouse building and its history and construction as part of nominating the building for designation as a state historic site. In addition to photographs of various exterior and interior architectural features of the building, the scrapbook contains reproductions of early contracts overseeing the construction of the building and entries from early county court records about the structure. A letter of presentation about the scrapbook and the transcription of the historical entries were prepared by A.L. Strand. One copy of the scrapbook was submitted to the Oregon Historical Society and a second copy to the Benton County Pioneer Historical Society.
Most of the photographs have become detached from the scrapbook, but have been retained in their original placement.
The Benton County Courthouse was constructed in 1888 in Corvallis, Oregon, and is the oldest courthouse in Oregon still in use for that purpose.
A.L. Strand was Benton County Commissioner at the time this scrapbook was prepared. Strand was appointed as President of Oregon State College in the fall of 1942 and led the College through World War II and the post-war period of extensive growth in students and facilities. Strand retired in 1961 and remained in Corvallis where he served a 4-year term on the Benton County Commission. He died in Corvallis in 1980.