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AKA: Oregon Agricultural College (OAC), Kidder, Ida, Hall, Corvallis, OR; Oregon State University, Fairchild Hall, Corvallis, OR
Structure Type: built works - public buildings - schools - university buildings
Designers: Pugh, Walter D., Architect (firm); Walter David Pugh (architect)
Dates: constructed 1891-1892
3 stories, total floor area: 37,946 sq. ft.
Building History
This dormitory, on what is now the Oregon State University Campus, was known between 1892 and 1927 as "Cauthorn Hall," in honor of the Oregon State Senator and Oregon State Agricultural College Regent, Thomas Cauthorn. According to the Oregon State University Libraries: "Thomas E. Cauthorn served on the college’s board of regents from 1888 to 1891. He also served in the Oregon Senate from 1883 to 1891. As a regent, he spoke before the Oregon legislature to secure appropriations for Oregon Agricultural College, including $25,000 in funds for construction of the first men’s dormitory." (See Oregon State University Libraries.edu, "OSU Buildings Histories in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center Building History: Cauthorn Hall," accesseed 01/30/2023.)
In 1927, the Regents of the Oregon Agricultural College renamed the building for Ida Kidder, the school's librarian. At this time, the administration remodeled the new Kidder Hall from a dorm into a classroom facility. (Weatherford Hall, a new dormitory, was completed in 1928.)
Kidder Hall became "J. Leo Fairbanks Hall" in 1964, honoring the Chair of the Oregon State University Art Department. (See Oregon State University Libraries.edu, "OSU Buildings Histories in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center Building History: Kidder Hall," accessed 01/27/2023.)
Three different buildings have been known as "Cauthorn Hall" since 1892. This one, a portion of Weatherford Hall was called this at one time, and Cauthorn Hall #3, built in 1957.
PCAD id: 24572
