Eaton Hall is an academic building on the campus of

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in Salem, Oregon,

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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Completed in 1909, the four-story brick and stone hall is the fourth oldest building on the campus of the school after

Waller Hall Waller Hall is a building on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, in the United States. Opened in 1867 as University Hall, it is the oldest higher-education building west of the Mississippi River still in use, currently housing ...

(1867), Gatke Hall (1903), and the Art Building (1907).Willamette University Historic Buildings.
''Salem Historical Quarterly''. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. Eaton is a mix of architectural styles and houses the humanities departments of the liberal arts college.

History

Eaton Hall was built from 1907 to 1908.1840-1990 Keepsake Edition: Willamette University. ''

Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...

'', October 26, 1990. The primarily Late Gothic Revival style building was dedicated on September 21, 1909, and named in honor of Abel E. Eaton. Eaton donated $50,000 for the construction of the hall. He owned the Union Woolen Mills in

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmos ...

. Originally constructed with round spires on the turrets, these were later removed.Historic Campus Architecture Project: Eaton Hall.
The Council of Independent Colleges. Retrieved on October 1, 2008. Eaton Hall was home to Willamette’s law school from 1923 until 1938.Women of Willamette: Early Legal Pioneers to Today’s Trailblazers. ''Willamette Lawyer'', Spring 2007, p. 12. During the 1960s the structure housed the school’s office of the president, the registrar, the school’s telephone switchboard, and business offices. Willamette's administrative offices were located in Eaton from its opening until 1980. In 1980, renovations began to convert administrative offices into classrooms and faculty offices and other modern improvements. In 1983, the building's interior was remodeled, and the following year Eaton was added to Salem's Historic Properties List.City of Salem: Historic Properties List.
City of Salem. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. In the spring of 2004, a $1.4 million renovation of the building’s fourth floor was completed.
''The Scene'', Spring 2004. Retrieved on January 27, 2008. The former attic space was converted into offices and classrooms for the rhetoric and anthropology departments.

Details

Four stories tall, the hall is constructed of stone and bricks with a composite shingle roof. Architectural details contain elements of Victorian, Gothic Revival, and Beaux-Arts styles. Gothic elements include a pointed arches on the entrances, embedded towers or turrets, a foundation of rusticated stone, and decorative stone

lintels A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

. Located on the north end of campus, it is adjacent to Waller Hall to the west and Smullin Hall to the east. To the south is an open field which previously served as the school's football field. The building currently houses Willamette’s

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

programs. This includes the

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, Classics, and Philosophy departments.

References

External links

View of Eaton Hall from atop the Oregon State CapitolPicture of Eaton Hall circa 1940
{{Willamette University Willamette University buildings School buildings completed in 1908 University and college academic buildings in the United States 1908 establishments in Oregon