In 1871, the Corvallis College Board of Trustees purchased a 35-acre farm west of downtown Corvallis which served initially as the College's Experimental Farm and was the beginning of Oregon State University's Corvallis campus. By the late 1880s, a building (Benton Hall) had been built on the property. Additional land was purchased and buildings were constructed for teaching, research, and student housing. The Corvallis campus now encompasses 400 acres.
From the early 1900s until 1932, Gordon V. Skelton was responsible for campus surveys and maps and supervised roads, walks, and fire protection for campus buildings in addition to his role as a Professor of Highway Engineering and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. In 1932, Skelton was appointed Superintendent of Surveys, Maps, Roads and Walks, and Fire Protection, a position he held until 1940.
The Oregon State University Campus Maps document the development of the Oregon State campus from the 1890s through the 1990s. The collection includes campus guides, visitor and parking maps, and pictorial maps. Maps documenting campus planning in the 1920s through 1970s are part of the collection. Information about the ownership of lands purchased or acquired by the University is available. Detailed survey maps and plans for sewers and utilities, roads, and walkways prepared during the 1900s-1920s are part of the collection. Many of the campus guides include descriptive information about the campus and Corvallis. Maps showing the locations of fraternities and sororities are also available in the collection.
The collection also includes several maps of Oregon State facilities and lands beyond Corvallis. Of note is a map showing the federal land granted to Oregon for support of the agricultural college per requirements of the Morrill Act.
Many of the maps are original ink drawings on vellum; Gordon V. Skelton drew many of the detailed plans and maps. A.D. Taylor prepared the 1926 and 1945 campus plans. The early survey maps of campus were prepared by students in surveying classes. Students also prepared several of the pictorial maps.
Collection is open for research.
The Oregon State University Campus Maps are arranged into four series: I. Oregon Agricultural College Maps, 1894-1930; II. Oregon State College Maps, 1930-1960; III. Oregon State University Maps, 1962-1994; and IV. Oregon State University Maps outside of Corvallis, 1933 - circa 1980s. The items in each series are arranged chronologically.
Oregon State University Campus Maps (MAPS OSUCampus), Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
About 35 of the maps were originally received by the Library as part of the E.E. Wilson Papers in the 1960s. At that time, they were separated from the Papers and cataloged individually as part of the OSU Libraries' map collection.
This collection consists of materials that were transferred from the Oregon State University Libraries' maps collection as well as the Special Collections & Archives Research Center's Memorabilia Collection in 2012-2014.
The
Series I consists of maps of the Oregon Agricultural College campus. Most of the maps are of the full campus at the time the maps was prepared. The maps depict campus buildings, roadways, paths, tile ditches, sewers, and fire protection systems. Several of the maps depict the topography of the campus, especially in the vicinity of Benton Hall; most of these were made by students in surveying classes. Maps documenting land owners for properties near campus as well as agricultural lands owned or rented by the College are included. Many of the maps were prepared by Gordon V. Skelton.
Scale 1 inch = 50 feet. Map made by William Bloss. Includes water pipes and tile ditches. One copy is original ink on vellum; the other copy is a blueprint.
Scale 1 inch = 100 feet; ink on vellum. Shows roads, tiled ditches, and buildings.
By Gordon V. Skelton; scale 1 inch = 100 feet; ink on vellum.
Probably circa 1900; detailed layout of a campus dining hall, perhaps in Cauthorn Hall. Original ink on vellum.
By Burgraff of Albany; signed by members of the Board of Regents. Map shows topography with 1-foot contour interval, buildings, and steam conduit. Scale 1 inch = 50 feet. Also includes floor plans for the auditorium and basement of the Armory (now Valley Gymnastics Center) at 1/8 scale. Original ink on vellum.
From surveys made by the students of the surveying classes. Scale 1 inch = 100 feet; shows campus buildings, walkways, and streets.
Plan of water works for the College by Hirstel and Johnson.
Scale 1 inch = 100 feet. This "Women's Building" is Waldo Hall. Also includes profile of sewer, plan of manhole, and plan of manhole ring and cover. Prepared by Gordon V. Skelton.
Platted from student surveys; H.B. Benson, W.C. Galloway, and R.R. Clark. Scale 1 inch = 100 feet. Includes contour lines, streets, and buildings. Original map was cut into 4 pieces.
Scale 1 inch = 100 feet with contour interval of 1 foot. Shows buildings, proposed buildings, paths, and roads. Prepared by Gordon V. Skelton. Annotation indicated that this map was prepared during the first year of President Kerr's administration.
Surveyed by students of the Class of 1909. Original map was cut into 6 pieces; only 4 of the pieces are extant.
Includes one original ink on vellum with scale of 1 inch = 300 feet and 8 printed copies. One of the printed copies has typewritten text affixed to the map. The map shows buildings and farm plots.
Shows proposed and existing hydrants and lines.
No. 7-B by Gordon V. Skelton. Scale 1 inch = 50 feet.
Probably in early 1910s; sewer between Cauthorn and Waldo Halls. Scale 1 inch = 100 feet.
Shows 16th and Washington Streets, railway, and rail siding to heating plant.
Includes 3 originals, ink on vellum; remainder are printed. The maps depict campus buildings and streets immediately adjacent to campus.
Scale 1 inch = 50 feet; original ink on vellum.
Scale 1 inch = 10 feet; original ink on vellum; prepared by Gordon V. Skelton.
Land for agricultural use; one copy is original ink on vellum; second map is hand-color printed copy.
Scale 1 inch = 50 feet; prepared by Gordon V. Skelton; original ink on vellum.
For convocation in Men's Gymnasium in February 1919.
Shows campus buildings, roads, and property owners for land adjacent to campus.
No. 2-A by Gordon V. Skelton; scale 1 inch = 50 feet.
Scale 1 inch = 330 feet; original ink on vellum.
Scale 1 inch = 330 feet; prepared by Gordon V. Skelton.
Indicates purchases recommended; map extends to Oak Creek area. Ink on vellum.
Plan by A.D. Taylor. One copy is hand-colored.
By Gordon V. Skelton. Scale 1 inch = 400 feet; ink on vellum.
A portion of the full map; by Gordon V. Skelton. Scale 1 inch - 200 feet; shows tunnels and conduits.
Shows location of barns and agricultural buildings.
Scale 1 inch = 100 feet; prepared by Gordon V. Skelton; original in on vellum.
Scale 1 inch = 200 feet; by Gordon V. Skelton.
Prepared by Gordon V. Skelton; hand-colored copies.
Shows buildings near Monroe Avenue.
No. 2-C. Scale 1 inch - 50 feet. Prepared by Gordon V. Skelton.
Scale 1 inch = 20 feet; by Arthur L. Peck. For courts south of Home Economics Building (on current Memorial Union quadrangle). Original ink in vellum.
Series II consists of an assortment of maps of the Oregon State College campus, primarily during the 1930s-1950s. The series also includes several maps of agricultural lands west and south of the main campus. Several pictorial maps are included. Maps by Gordon V. Skelton as well as Wayne Bagley, Tom Bulpitt, and J.B. Solberg are part of this series.
An annotated copy of A.D. Taylor's 1926 plan with location of Health Service.
Detailed map showing walks, streets, and utilities in the area of Weatherford and Cauthorn Halls; scale 1 inch = 20 feet. Original map has been cut into 4 pieces.
Map of deeded land along Oak Creek purchased from Louise Lance Bebbe et al. for use by veterinary medicine. Scale 1 inch = 100 feet.
Drawn by Wayne Bagley; published in the 1934
Prepared by Gordon V. Skelton; scale 1 inch = 200 feet. Maps show campus buildings, streets, and utilities; one sheet also indicates original property owners for campus property.
As published in the General Catalog and other College publications.
Correspondence pertaining to purchase of these properties.
Scale 1 inch = 500 feet. One of the maps indicates with color codes the following properties: businesses, industrial establishments, single and multi-family dwellings, public buildings, parks, sororities, and fraternities. The second map indicates the locations of individual sorority and fraternity house and women's cooperative houses.
Prepared by A.D. Taylor. Multiple copies of the same plan.
Prepared by A.D. Taylor.
By J.B. Solberg.
Drawn by Tom Bulpitt.
Scale 1 inch = 200 feet.
Scale 1 inch = 50 feet.
Scale 1 inch = 200 feet.
Scale 1 inch = 300 feet.
Series III includes maps that were published as campus guides for visitors, students, and employees as well as campus planning maps. Maps indicating parking lots on campus and parking regulations are also part of this series.
Includes index to campus buildings and descriptive information.
Shows buildings under construction.
Prepared by L.A. Demonte and A.R. Wagner.
Includes parking map and regulations.
Scale 1 inch = 200 feet. Shows proposed dormitories, existing and possible additional parking, and roads and parking to be abandoned. Of note is an "Academic Circle" centered on the Memorial Union quadrangle.
Prepared for the OSU Centennial celebration.
Drawing of an oblique aerial view of campus.
Shows facilities completed or acquired before 1940, between 1940 and 1970, and after 1970.
A 1971 reproduction of a map prepared as part of a 1950s proposal for a recreation area on the east bank of the Willamette River north of the Van Buren Street bridge. The area would include a golf course, club house, picnic areas, and areas for outdoor recreation and education.
Scale 1 inch = 200 feet.
Color map prepared by DeMonte, Powell, and Yang, University Planning Consultants.
Includes descriptive information, a Corvallis map, and advertisements for local businesses.
Shows parking as well as full and partial access points for campus buildings.
Prepared by OSU Bookstore.
Series IV consists of maps of Oregon State facilities throughout the state of Oregon. A map of lands granted to Oregon for support of Oregon State as a land grant institution is also included.
Map is annotated in red with locations of federal land that were granted to Oregon for support of Oregon Agricultural College. The map may have been prepared in the 1960s in preparation for the centennial of the Morrill Act (1962) or Oregon State University (1968).
Symbols on the map indicate the location of County Agents, Home Demonstration Agents, 4-H Club Leaders, and Alumni Clubs. The map was published in the
Maps show the locations of County Extension Offices and Agricultural Experiment Station facilities.