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Philomath College

Located in Benton County, Oregon, Philomath College was a preparatory school founded in 1867 by the United Brethren Church. It has stood as the place of the Benton County Historical Society and Museum since 1980. The college remained operational until its closing in 1929, due to a decline in enrollments following the unfolding of the Great Depression. The site was added to the National Register of Historical Places list, on December 11th, 1972.

Philomath College, now the site of the Benton County Historical Society

Early photo of Philomath College

History

Philomath highlighted (left) within Benton County

Reverend Thomas Jefferson Connor of the United Brethren Church led families to Benton County in January, 1852, following his trip East to the Willamette Valley in search of land to settle. The first United Brethren Church was established by Reverend Thomas Jefferson Connor, at Union schoolhouse, which was the only school in the area. Townsfolk yearned for a more accessible school.

It wasn't until February of 1865 that a committee of United Brethren Church members formed, and the funds ($2,510) would be collected to purchase the half-section of land from the Henderson donation land claim, which was apart of a statute in place to encourage settling in the Oregon Territory. The 1867 completion marked the commencement of classes in the fall.

Due to Depression tensions like, economic collapse, and competition with other state-sponsored institutions, the college had few enrollments, and subsequently closed and was used as a evangelical church by the town until it's reopening.

Construction

The original stone foundation was first laid in 1865, both by masons and students of the college. Construction led on for two years, with the steady help of a brick kiln on site, which saw the completion of the structure in the fall of 1867. Additions had been made as more pupils received their education, a new gymnasium being built in 1902-03, and a west wing finished in 1905, with yet another on the way in 1906. By 1909, the school was electrically powered, pumping water, and overseeing sidewalks leading towards the emerging lumber town of Philomath.

Reopened and Repurposed

Following years of disrepair, the college was purchased by the Benton County Historical Society. Then, in the 1970s, local citizens acknowledged the buildings cultural and historical significance, and redeemed it through the National Register of Historical Places. What is now the site for the Benton County Historical Society, Philomath College became the Benton County Historical Museum in 1980. Additionally, the John B. Horner collection was moved from its previous holding at the Horner Museum, now Gill Coliseum in Oregon State University, to a well-ventilated warehouse which now houses 60,000 artifacts collected over the years that Horner Museum operated. The warehouse is located in Philomath, Oregon, and is called the Peter & Rosalie Johnson Collections Center.

See also

• Corvallis, Oregon
• Donation Land Claim Act
• Protestantism
• Property type (National Register of Historic Places)

External Links

• Philomath. The Oregon Encyclopedia
• Benton County Museum

References

1. Horner, John B. "Activities of Philomath College." Oregon Historical Quarterly 30, no. 4 (1929): 344-45. Accessed June 7, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20610500.
2. Museum, Benton County. “TALE OF TWO COLLEGES: PHILOMATH COLLEGE AND THE COLLEGE OF PHILOMATH.” bentoncountymuseum.org. Accessed May 25, 2021. http://www.bentoncountymuseum.org/index.php/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/two-colleges/.
3. Robbins, William G. “Philomath.” The Oregon Encyclopedia. The Oregon Historical Society, March 17, 2018. https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/philomath/#.YL6Jm5NKi3I.
4. Springer, C.G. "A History of Philomath College." The University of Oregon Thesis Series, no. 19 (July, 1929). https://cbcpubliclibrary.net/localhistory/Benton%20County/A%20History%20of%20Philomath%20College.pdf