Community Hall (Oregon State University)

Community Hall
Front view of the building's exterior showing all three floors and the dense landscaping surrounding it Community Hall exterior in 2025
Location of Community Hall Interactive map of Community Hall
Former names	Administration Bldg. (1888–1947) Benton Hall (1947–2017)
General information
Status	Completed
Type	School
Architectural style	Beaux-Arts
Location	College Hill, 1650 SW Pioneer Place, Corvallis, Oregon, United States
Coordinates
Elevation	240 ft (73 m)
Current tenants	University music department
Named for	The community of Benton Co. which funded its construction Formerly: Thomas Hart Benton, U.S. Senator 1821-51 (D-MO)
Groundbreaking	August 17, 1887 (1887-08-17)
Completed	July 1888 (1888-07)
Opened	September 1889 (1889-09)
Cost	$25,000
Owner	Oregon State University
Technical details
Structural system	Heavy timber-framed
Material	Wood
Floor count	3
Floor area	25,806 sq ft (2,397 m2)
Lifts/elevators	1
Design and construction
Architect	Wilbur R. Boothby
Other designers	Edgar M. Lazarus (1899 changes)
Other information
Parking	25 standard + 4 disabled spaces
Website
events.oregonstate.edu/community_hall
Community Hall (Oregon State University)
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Monochrome etching of building from era shortly after completion Etching of Community Hall used in class catalogs in this format in 1889-90 and 1890-91
Aerial view of Oregon State University campus taken in 1915 1915 aerial view of campus with Community Hall shown in the foreground, slightly left of center
Location	SW Campus Way and SW Pioneer Place, Corvallis
Coordinates
Part of	Oregon State University Historic District (ID08000546)
Designated CP	June 25, 2008 (2008-06-25)

Community Hall (formerly the Administration Building, then Benton Hall) was the first building constructed on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, Oregon and the oldest structure on its campus today. Its original name was simply the "Administration Building" while the university itself was using the name under which it was first organized: Oregon State Agricultural College. It is situated on a gentle slope called "College Hill," just west of the city's commercial center on the west bank of the Willamette River, there anchoring what remains of the school's original buildings on the "Lower Campus" (given with current names and years built): Apperson Hall (1899), Benton Annex (1892), Education Hall (1902) and Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center (1898).

History

In 1860 a lien was placed on the first building to occupy the site, by a carpenter who had not been paid for his work. The ensuing sheriff's sale resulted in ownership of the building, the land and the school operating there (Corvallis College) transferring to Rev. Orceneth Fisher on behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, where he served as pastor. By 1885, calls from local leaders were growing loud to convert it to a state institution which would be eligible for federal funds under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts and the church agreed to relinquish control. In response, the Oregon State Legislature passed an act that reorganized the school as the state's agricultural college, but skeptical of the actual awarding of land-grant status it decided to require the citizens of Benton County to bear the full costs for the construction of a suitable building to house its offices, which the act required to be no less than $25,000 (equivalent to $675,000 in 2020), and if successful the building would become de jure property of the state upon completion through eminent domain.

The 1880 census had reported only 1,400 households within the entire county, but less than two years later the sum had been raised, permits secured and construction began on the building still standing today, largely unchanged, as Community Hall. The cornerstone was laid by the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Oregon on August 17, 1887 and it officially opened in September 1889 at the start of the school's final academic year as the State Agricultural College of Oregon; it opened for the 1890 term as simply the Oregon Agricultural College.

On October 28, 1987, Governor Neil Goldschmidt signed a proclamation declaring the day as "Benton Hall Day".

Benton Hall was renamed Community Hall in November 2017.

External links

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