Villard Hall is a historic building located in Eugene,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Completed in 1886, it is the second-oldest building on the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

campus after University Hall. The

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

-style building was listed on

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1972. University Hall and Villard Hall were together designated as one U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1977. and ' Villard Hall was named for

Henry Villard Henry Villard (April 10, 1835 – November 12, 1900) was an American journalist and financier who was an early president of the Northern Pacific Railway. Born and raised by Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard in the Rhenish Palatinate of the Kin ...

, a railroad magnate and philanthropist who was the University of Oregon's first benefactor. He provided financial aid to the university in 1886. Before its naming, Villard Hall was known as "the new building." In 1949 a new 400 seat theater was built as an addition onto Villard Hall. Throughout the late 1950, 1960s and 1970, the studios and transmitter of KWAX were on the third floor. Also on the third floor were studios for KOAC TV, which connected to KOAC in Corvallis via a microwave link, housed in an "outhouse" on the northeast corner of the roof. The building now houses the university's comparative literature and theater arts departments, as well as the Robinson Theater.

References

The Architecture of the University of Oregon: Villard Hall & Robinson Theater
from the University of Oregon Library

External links

Image of Villard Hall
from the University of Oregon
Building Map of Villard Hall
from the University of Oregon University of Oregon buildings University and college academic buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Eugene, Oregon 1886 establishments in Oregon University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon {{Oregon-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links