Page 32 - Corvallis, OR Historic Preservation Plan

Historic Preservation Plan

Types of Historic Properties

As of 2017, Corvallis has approximately 586 individually-designated
historic resources. Approximately 744 structures are subject to historic
preservation provisions, which accounts for the structures included in
Corvallis’s three historic districts as well as those that are individually-
designated. Most communities, including Corvallis, use a 50 years old
or older threshold when determining eligibility for designation.

These resources include a wide variety of structures, cemeteries and
building types and styles, such as:
• Commercial and industrial buildings, mostly located within the
Central Business District Core
• Residences
• Religious buildings
• Civic buildings, typically located in the Downtown
• Institutional buildings, typically located on the OSU campus

In addition to the diversity in the types of Corvallis’s historic structures,
the styles of Corvallis’s residential historic buildings vary greatly. Some
of the styles expressed include:
• Queen Anne
• Bungalow
• Craftsman
• American Foursquare
• Classical Revival
• Italianate
• 20th Century Revival styles
• Vernacular styles

Historic commercial and industrial buildings in Corvallis are generally
brick construction. Important historic civic buildings in Corvallis include
the Benton County Courthouse, which was built in 1888 and is High
Victorian Italianate in style, and City Hall, which was built in 1924 and
is a Classical Revival building (originally built as the Madison Avenue
Methodist Church).

The OSU campus is also home to important institutional buildings and
building styles. Notable buildings on the OSU campus include:
• Benton Hall (1889) - Italianate style
• Fairbanks Hall (1892) - Queen Anne style
• Apperson Hall, now Kearney Hall (1900) - Romanesque style
• Education Hall, now Furman Hall (1902) - Romanesque style
• Waldo Hall (1907) - Romanesque style
• Weatherford Hall (1928) - Mediterranean Revival style
• Memorial Union (1928) - Neo-Classical style

26 City of Corvallis