The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Bates House

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Bates House (front facade), Pacific University

Institution Name: Pacific University
Original/Historic Place Name: Bates House
Location on Campus: College Way
Date(s) of Construction:

1923	original construction

Designer: unknown
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Other (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education, history
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation:

Walls: wood

Roof: composite

Function:

ca. 1923	president's house
ca. 1958	residence hall (for women honor students)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	faculty offices (and Division of Humanities academic offices)
ca. 2004-present (2006)	administration (offices for Dean of Arts & Sciences)

Narrative:
Bates House was built in 1923, and four presidents lived there: William C. Weir (1923-1924), John Dobbs (1924-1940), Walter Giersbach (1941-1953), and Charles Armstrong (1953-1958). From 1946 to 1947, $8,000 was spent to renovate the interior of Bates House. Even though President Giersbach still lived in the house during that time, six male students lived in the basement since there was a shortage of post-war housing.

Shortly after President Miller Ritchie began his administration in 1959, the house was named in honor of Rev. Henry Liberty Bates, a former dean of the faculty at Pacific. Bates was also the last principal of Tualatin Academy from 1893-1915.

References:

Miranda, Gary, and Rick Read. Splendid Audacity, The Story of Pacific University. Forest Grove, OR: Pacific University, 2000.

On Your Own Two Feet, A Self-Guided Tour of Our Historic Campus. Pamphlet. Forest Grove, OR: Pacific University, 2003.