Landmarks of the Pennsylvania State University
Campus Landmarks include land
areas, buildings, and other objects which symbolize the history and architectural
heritage of Penn State. They help us to remember our roots and their preservation
enables us to retain what is unique and what is handsome in the character
of our community. The Board of Trustees recognized this when in November
1970 they approved a policy to assure the preservation of the Mall and
Old Main lawn, Old Botany Building, the memorial gates to campus, the
Obelisk and President Atherton's grave site.
In addition to these designated sites, there are many others
which are familiar to alumni, students, staff and visitors. This section
of the Source Book will describe these landmarks for those who are interested
in learning more about them. But as any older alumnus can tell, today's
campus bears only slight resemblance to turn-of-the century Penn State.
We can still see that campus in the Panoramic View of Penn State published
by the College in 1910. The major features of the campus including Old
Main, and the engineering, science, liberal arts, and agricultural areas
were established by 1910, but the only familiar structures to today's
viewer would be Schwab, Carnegie, Old Botany, and McAllister Buildings,
the Ag Hill group of Armsby and Patterson and the dominating landscape
features of the Mall and Old Main lawn.
If we could take an historical stroll on the campus of 1910,
we'd probably start at the corner of College Avenue and Allen Street.
Here we'd first see the two lions perched atop the gates at the mall,
which was a street at the time all the way through campus. We would pass
important buildings as we began our climb up the mall: the five-story
Old Main completed in 1862 with its new gothic-style roof added in 1896
on our right, and Old Engineering and the Armory, massive Romanesque-style
buildings completed in the late 1880s to the left. Behind Engineering
was the Bellefonte Central Railroad station where students had daily train
service to the outside world. Just beyond Engineering was the home of
the President, looking quite different from today's University House.
Also about half-way up the mall, we might pause by the Old Willow, planted
by William G. Waring in the 1850s, and admire the stone polylith in front
of the Armory. Stretching north and west of the Carnegie Library were
orchards also laid out by Waring in the school's early days.
Across from Schwab Auditorium is the familiar Old Botany Building, but
then with a glass conservatory on the west side, formal gardens laid out
in the 1860s in front of it, and the Ghost Walk, two parallel lines of
spruce and pine, behind it. Further up the mall were the baseball grandstands
and new Beaver Field, recently moved up in 1909 from the lawns where Osmond
now sits. Turning east on Pollock Road one passed the Ladies Cottage,
Track House and McAllister Hall, all student residences supplementing
the overcrowded Old Main. Beyond these was the Chemistry-Physics building
and cottages occupied by faculty members. To the north and east lay Ag
Hill, and the Ag Experiment Station, barns and farms, including Professor
Jordan's famous soil fertility plots, now the athletic fields below Eisenhower
Auditorium.
While few of these landmarks still exist, the historical character of
this portion of the campus has been recognized by the National Register
of Historic Places. The "Farmers' High School/Penn State Old Campus" complex
was approved for addition to the Register in 1981. This area includes
the Old Main, engineering, liberal arts, West Halls, fraternity, Rec Hall,
and Nittany Lion Inn areas. Some thirty-four buildings are cited in the
Register as contributing to the architectural and historical significance
of the complex. In addition to this Old Campus area, the Ag Hill complex
of Weaver, Armsby, Patterson and The Respiration-Calorimeter buildings
and the Centre Furnace site were listed on the Register in 1979.
Present Day Landmarks
Old Main
Construction of the original Old Main building began in 1856, was
halted by the Panic of 1857 and was eventually completed in 1862. In
its earliest days it provided housing for students and faculty alike,
and contained the chapel, dining facilities, library, classrooms, laboratories,
museum, and student association rooms. For 70 years it served as the
administrative center of the College but by the 1920s, serious structural
faults in the building had caused the upper floors to be closed. In
1929 it was torn down and the limestone blocks reused in the construction
of the new federal-revival style Old Main. Today the building is the
symbol of the University for alumni and visitors. On the walls of the
main lobby are the Land Grant Frescoes painted by Henry Varnum Poor,
one of America's outstanding muralists.
Front campus landscape
The large open expanse of lawn in front of Old Main has been a feature
of campus from the earliest days although most trees initially stood
directly in front of the building. In the southeast corner a depression
in the ground, marked by a plaque, shows the location of the quarry
from which the stone for the original building was quarried. As noted
above, the mall to the west of Old Main was at one time the extension
of Allen Street through campus. The portion of the mall below Pollock
Road was permanently closed off and grass planted in 1930 while the
north section remained open until the construction of Pattee Library
in 1939. Old Willow's site is now marked by a stone tablet. This massive
willow among the elms was planted by Waring in 1859 to mark the turning
spot for contractors' wagons bound for Old Main. After the original
tree's death, a cutting grew and matured in the same spot until disease
took it in 1976. Other cuttings of the original tree have been preserved
and some day may grace the same spot. The original stone gates at the
foot of the mall came from the Pennsylvania exhibit at the St. Louis
Exposition of 1904. They supported two lions holding shields emblazoned
with "Pa." which quickly became known as Pa and Ma to the students.
The gates were reconstructed in 1916 and the iron grill added in 1930
to form a barrier across the mall. The wall which fronts the campus
was a gift of the class of 1915, and extends from the mall gates to
the foot of the so-called Human Development mall where stands a second
memorial gate, a gift of the class of 1925. The more modern gates at
the Atherton Street entrance to campus were a gift of the class of 1903.
Obelisk
The polylith, as it was originally called, is a geologic monument.
It consists of samples of Pennsylvania building stone from throughout
the state and was constructed in 1896. The effect of the virtuousness
of passing coeds on its stability has been a favorite student tradition
for many years.
University House
This was the home of 11 of the University's 14 presidents from 1864
to 1970. The president's house as it was then called, was designed by
Evan Pugh as a country Georgian mansion--very similar in layout to those
of the county's ironmasters. Pugh put up half of the cost of construction
and the Trustees paid the balance, however, he died suddenly in April
1864, and never lived in the house. There have been a number of alterations
and renovations over the years, but the house is still a symbol of the
hospitality of the University.
Old Botany
This building built in 1887 is the oldest building on campus whose
exterior has not been altered over the years. It was designed by College
Architect F. L. Olds in the "Richardsonian Romanesque" style he also
used in Old Engineering and the Armory. The most notable features are
the large semicircular window on the east facade, eyelid dormers and
terra cotta ornamentation on the ridge of the roof. The building first
housed botany laboratories and had greenhouses attached and a formal
garden in front, laid out by students in 1861. The interior is considerably
altered and today is used for administrative offices.
President Atherton's Grave
George W. Atherton served twenty-four years--the longest tenure of
any Penn State president. When Atherton arrived, the College was just
emerging from almost twenty years of curricular disarray and two legislative
investigations. Atherton's tenure saw enrollment rise from 87 to 800,
the first substantial buildings added and a curricular direction established
which continues today. President Atherton died on July 24, 1906. General
Beaver, former Governor and President of the Board of Trustees, suggested
that Atherton be buried in front of Old Main. But the family, arguing
that the spot was too busy and that a monument there might become the
object of student pranks, chose the quieter north side of Schwab Auditorium.
At that time the road there terminated in farms at both ends. Today
Pollock Road is a busy thoroughfare however, and the Old Main front,
conversely, is more peaceful. In 1982 the University surrounded the
marble slab with a small meditation courtyard backed by a granite wall
bearing a likeness of Atherton and his surname in bronze letters.
Schwab and Carnegie Buildings
These fine buildings in the Beaux-Arts style with their buff brick
and decorated faces were the first buildings on campus financed by donors.
Charles M. Schwab was President of Bethlehem Steel and responded in
1902 to the College's lack of a proper chapel by a sizeable donation
to finance one. President Atherton gratefully accepted the money but
decided to call it Schwab Auditorium, foreseeing that most uses of the
building would be secular in nature. The Carnegie Building, the College's
first library outside of Old Main was constructed in 1904. Trustee and
steel magnate Andrew Carnegie was internationally known for donating
library buildings to hundreds of communities and colleges. His one hundred
thousand dollar bequest was made here on the condition that the legislature
buy the books to fill it. After the opening of Pattee Library, Carnegie
was converted to classroom and office use. The Daily Collegian now shares
the building with the School of Journalism.
Nittany Lion Shrine
On April 20, 1904, the Penn State nine was visiting Princeton for
a baseball game. When freshman H. D. "Joe" Mason '07 was shown two Bengal
tigers as an indication of the merciless treatment they would encounter,
Joe responded with an instant fabrication of the Penn State Nittany
Mountain Lion, who could overcome even Princeton's tiger. The idea persisted
over the years and Penn State's athletic teams adopted the symbol. Confusion
with the African Lion was common until the class of 1940 commissioned
Heinz Warneke to sculpt the symbol as a class gift. Warneke worked under
a tent on the Indiana Limestone at the site and on October 24, 1942
the shrine was dedicated and accepted by the College. It's now the most
recognized symbol of Penn State world-wide.
Ag Hill
The College of Agriculture's location on campus was established during
the Atherton period. The passage of the Hatch Act provided funds for
the construction of the Ag Experiment Station building in 1889. The
hill northeast of Old Main soon also became the site of a number of
wooden buildings for instruction in dairy husbandry and other subjects,
barns and experimental farms. In the 1902-07 period distinctive new
buildings were added. The Respiration-Calorimeter Building (ca. 1900),
contains America's first calorimeter apparatus, used by Ag Dean Henry
P. Armsby for innovative research in animal nutrition. Patterson Building
(1902) was the College's creamery and Armsby (1905-07) served as a classroom
and college administration building. A later addition, Weaver Building
(1914) provided space for horticulture and followed the same Renaissance
style of architect Edward Hazlehurst. Later additions on the Hill included
the Stock Judging Pavilion, the Ferguson, Buckhout, Tyson and Borland
buildings, beef, sheep and cow barns, buildings for Agricultural Engineering,
Animal Industry, and Agricultural Administration, numerous greenhouses,
and the Poultry Plant.
Cottages
At one time a number of houses dotted the campus. These were initially
residences for the faculty before the town of State College developed
sufficiently to provide homes off campus. In the 1920s to 1940s most
of these houses were used for sororities, however because maintenance
and expenses proved to be economic burdens sororities gradually moved
into dormitories. Some of the old cottages were then turned over to
academic departments for office space. As new buildings filled in the
campus in the 1950s and 1960s many cottages disappeared. The last cottage
to be demolished in 1972 was Oak Cottage. There was a considerable protest
over this event since Oak was then the oldest building on campus, built
by William G. Waring for his own family in 1857. Today four cottages
remain: Ihlseng, housing the Institute for Arts and Humanistic Studies
(built in 1898), Pine, housing the Artists Series offices (1888), Spruce,
housing the Department of Publications (1889-90), and Birch, housing
the University Faculty Senate offices (1915). Pine and Spruce originally
stood on the site of Osmond Lab. Pine was once the home of Engineering
Dean Robert Sackett and later Phi Mu Sorority, while Spruce had been
built for Science Dean George G. Pond and later housed Theta Phi Alpha.
Ihlseng was named for its first occupant, Mining Dean Magnus Ihlseng
and later housed the College Infirmary. Birch had been the physician's
residence, the home of Dr. Joseph P. Ritenour and was originally located
next to Ihlseng before being moved in 1925 to its present location.
Centre Furnace
Located on the southeast corner of campus is the stack of the Centre
Iron Furnace built in 1790-91 by Revolutionary War Generals Samuel Miles
and John Patton. This was the first charcoal iron furnace built in the
"Juniata" region west of the Susquehanna and it laid the foundation
for the growth and development of all Central Pennsylvania and the University
itself. By the early years of the nineteenth century more than two dozen
iron furnaces dotted Central Pennsylvania, eight alone in Centre County.
The output of these furnaces created the economic power of early Pennsylvania
and the dominance of the state in the American iron industry. This economic
power translated into the election of five governors from Bellefonte
in the nineteenth century. This economic and political strength also
manifested itself as Centre County succeeded over Allegheny, Philadelphia,
Dauphin, and other counties in winning the competition for the site
of the Farmer's High School. It was the offer of 200 acres of land by
the owner of Centre Furnace and the offer of $10,000 from the people
of Centre and Huntingdon counties that brought the campus to the old
village of Centre Furnace. Across Porter Road today is the Centre Furnace
Mansion, the residence of Moses Thompson, co-owner of the Furnace Lands,
where all dignitaries visiting the young college were housed and entertained.
It is now the home of the Centre County Historical Society. Centre Furnace
Mansion and stack were added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1979.
The Naming of Buildings, Roads and Plazas
It is the policy of the University to name certain of its buildings,
parts of buildings, roads and plazas in honor of friends, benefactors
and persons who have made substantial contributions to the University,
to education in the Commonwealth or the nation.
Ordinarily, University facilities will not be named for persons
who are actively involved in or related to University operations. This
includes members of the faculty and the staff, the Board of Trustees,
the Advisory Boards, the legislators, and governmental officials.
It is the general intent of the University to refrain from naming
any facility after a living person.
Building names should include a designation of their primary function.
Student living quarters and dining quarters are designated as "halls"
or "commons." Buildings occupied by laboratories are designated a "laboratory."
Buildings primarily occupied by offices and classrooms are designated
"building." Special use buildings such as a library, natatorium, auditorium,
health center, etc. may bear that name separately or in combination
with a person's name, e.g., "Pattee Library," "McCoy Natatorium," "Ritenour
Health Center."
Sub-units of a building or area may be named separately to recognize
an outstanding individual or a donor wishing to underwrite the cost
of a building, the room of a building, a major equipment item, an architectural
landscape or art feature. In these cases, an appropriate plaque may
be installed to acknowledge such recognition.
To advise and make recommendations to the President on appropriate
names for specific buildings, or parts of buildings, roads and plazas
at all University locations, an Advisory Committee to the President
on Naming Facilities has been established. Persons serving on this
committee are: vice president for administration, chairman; vice president
for business and operations, executive officer; vice president and vice
provost; senior vice president for development and University relations;
senior vice president and dean for the Commonwealth Educational System;
chair of the council of academic deans, and the chair of the University
Faculty Senate. Communications with the committee are through the vice
president for business and operations. Final approval of names is by
the Board of Trustees.
