Oberlin!  the town is historic and interesting. the college has untold historic treasures.  It would take a lot longer than the hour I spent walking around tappan square to do it justice. For example, I missed a lot on campus (ie., finney chapel? Duh!) & all the historic homes, including the flw house. Oh well, Enjoy.

 

 

Founding of the Town and College

 

The Oberlin Colony was founded by Elyria Pastor John Jay

Shipherd (1802-1844) and his friend the Reverend Philo Stewart

(1798-1868), who had served as a missionary to the Choctaws

of Mississippi. They purchased a plot of swampy land upon which

to found the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, a manual-labor school.

In 1832 they traveled to what was to become Oberlin. Under an

elm tree near what is now the northwest corner of College and

Main streets, they talked about the community they would found.

They set a tone of “Christian Perfectionism,” aspiring to a pure

devotion to God through hard work and simple living. They named

their community after John Frederick Oberlin (1740-1826), a European

minister and educator from the Alsace region.

 

Many of the early colonists farmed the land and went to the small college

that became a training ground for missionaries and teachers who

went throughout the world. In 1846 the village was incorporated,

and in 1850 the name of the college was changed from Oberlin

Collegiate Institute to Oberlin College.

 

In the 19th and early 20th century both college and town

participated in various reform movements, including antislavery,

African-American rights, women’s rights and suffrage, temperance,

and progressive-era community improvement.

 

 

 

"'The engraving shows, on the right, the Presbyterian church, a substantial brick building, neatly finished externally and internally, and capable of holding a congregation of 3000 persons [?]; beyond it, on a green of about 12 acres, stands Tappan Hall; facing the green, commencing on the left, are seen Oberlin Hall, Ladies' Hall and Colonial Hall, all of which buildings belong to the Institute.' The chemistry laboratory may be seen between Ladies' Hall and Colonial Hall. The small building between Oberlin Hall and Ladies' Hall is probably the 'shop'."

 

first church (richard bond, 1834)

 

oberlin (1850's)

 

 

 

hobbs building (1914)

 

   

 

Railroad depot (1866)

 

 

 

no claus oldenberg for us - oh well  :|

 

 

allen art museum (cass gilbert, 1917)

 

 

robert venturi addition (1976)

 

 

hall auditorium (walter harrison, 1953)

 

 

hall annex

 

arbor

 

union school building (Walter Blythe, 1874; bell tower restored 1997)

 

 

methodist church (1873)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science center (payette assoc., 2002)

 

 

 

Wilder hall union (Silsbee, 1911)

 

 

Mudd center (warner, et al, 1974)

 

 

 

The green

 

Warner center (patton, 1900)

 

 

 

King building (Yamasaki, 1964)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cox admin (gilbert, 1915)

 

Tappan square Memorial arch (Silsbee, 1903)

 

 

Talcott hall (weary & Kramer, 1887)

 

 

 

 

*** that's all i got -- somebody go git more oberlin sometime! ***

 

 

Thanks for those pics .. what a beautiful campus (minus the Science Center), and really incredible architecture.

What?  No Lewis Center for Environmental Studies pics?

 

(Great pictures, really.  Guess one of us needs to go back, eh?)

eh boy.

 

the thread is up two minutes & here come the nitpickers.  :roll:  :wink:

 

no, sorry i didn't get to the south or north ends of campus -- only around tappan square.

 

but wait.....you called out lewis over finney chapel?  :wtf:  :laugh:

Well, I am a bit more invested personally in Lewis and the green building movement.  Wake me when Finney begins generating its own energy.  :)

 

I'll hunt for some of my campus pictures later this week.

Great thread!  Oberlin really is a NEO gem.

Excellent tour. I love the variety and time span of the architectural designs.

Well, I am a bit more invested personally in Lewis and the green building movement.  Wake me when Finney begins generating its own energy.   :)

 

I'll hunt for some of my campus pictures later this week.

 

yeah i figured, but god is going to get you for that!  :laugh:

 

seriously, sorry i missed it. we were short on time & i missed a lot.

 

feel free to add anything missing if you have pics. it would be nice to have a comprehensive oberlin thread if anyone wants to add to it. make sure to annotate it so we know what it is.

 

 

Three Cass Gilbert buildings? I know he was an Ohioan, but did he have an Oberlin connection other than designing buildings there?

^I don't he had an Oberlin connection other than the commission to essentially remake the college's campus.  As mrnyc's pics show, the school has a long tradition of seeking out top national architects (with mixed results).

 

There is a really excellent book out there about the town's architecture: http://upress.kent.edu/books/Blodgett.htm

^ interesting. i think i saw that book in the campus bookstore. it's the same guy who did the oberlin architectural history link i used to identify the buildings:

 

http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/gbslides/AShortHistory.html

You know your town is up there with the best of 'em when you got a Ben Franklin!  :wink:

I've only passed through Oberlin twice, briefly, but have many friends who went to the college. And, of course, I know a tad of its history -- I think I learned in 4th grade Ohio History that it was the first co-ed college in the country, though the integration pioneering doesn't get the same attention. Interesting footnote: The first black major league baseball player came from Oberlin College's team. Moses "Fleetwood" Walker (born in Mt. Pleasant Ohio, another abolotionist burg), went from Oberlin to the Toledo team in the American Association in 1884 for one year before the bigots exercised their control of the game. (Yes, the AA was considered a major league, and yes, Toledo was a major league city.)

^ i remembered that historic trivia tidbit from my toledo visit last year  :mrgreen:

 

^ Thanks. I didn't know the Toledo ballpark had that marker. I'll have to seek it out next time I'm up there.

Great pix of Oberlin - I was there this spring for Chalk Walk and my camera battery was sadly dead so I couldn't snap any photos.  But I can link some from http://www.oberlinchalkwalk.com/ :

 

 

 

 

The art museum (I'm a member) has a great permanent collection - and this summer they had an Andy Warhol exhibit and a photographic installation "Running the Numbers" by Chris Jordan.  www.chrisjordan.com

 

You know your town is up there with the best of 'em when you got a Ben Franklin!  :wink:

 

Even better when it's part Ben Franklin, part awesome used book store, and a touch of Ten Thousand Villages all rolled into one store.

i like memorials in that style.

 

Nice work

Fantastic!

Where's Andy Bernard?

Great photos!