The Changing Campus Landscape

The exhibit on the changing campus landscape from 1804-2004 considers the development of the university campus in Athens over time, focusing on several aspects that include

• the early years
• pictures of people for whom the buildings are named
• buildings that have been demolished or have been recycled
• maps of the changing campus over the last century.

Two early views of campus, from an 1838 circular and an 1852 note written by President Alfred Ryors show the three buildings-today's Cutler, McGuffey and Wilson Halls--that made up the core of the campus. Another observer, Henry Howe (whose familiar 1840s view of campus is in the exhibit) states that the campus had very few trees at the time of his first visit in the 1840s.

Prof. Donald Clippinger of the Chemistry faculty was a well regarded scholar who also served a president of the city school board. Clippinger Laboratories is named for this active scholar and citizen.

Brandon "Butch" Grover, who grew up in Athens County, was a local boy who made good. Following years as the basketball coach, he served in the university administration under presidents James and Baker. His son Tad Grover recently completed a term on the Board of Trustees. The Convocation Center replaced Grover Center as the home basketball court by 1969. Grover Center is now home for the College of Health and Human Services.

Putnam School, named for co-founder Rufus Putnam, opened in the late 1920s and served until the early 1970s. It then became home for the Child Development Center and the School of Dance. With the Child Development Center's recent move to The Ridges, Putnam is currently undergoing renovation to better serve the School of Dance.

Alden Library was completed in 1969. Wolfe Garden filled in the old Tupper Hall site. The latter has the form of the State of Ohio. The East and West Wings of Alden, completed in 1972, were added after this photograph was taken. The bare look of 1970 is in sharp contrast with the plants and trees that add beauty to the site today.

The maps of campus from the 1929 and 1940 bulletins show a smaller campus that had not yet spread into the flood plain of the Hocking River.

During the decade between the two maps there were changes such as the "new" Richland Avenue bridge that came toward Super Hall, now the site for the recently completed Bentley Annex. Other changes include the removal of the railroad tracks in the early 1990s. These may be compared with the current campus map.