"Waller Hall"

    

In 1861, the trustees agreed to let a mill stream be dug across the campus. This was for the use of the nearby woolen mill.  In 1864 a new college building was started through the efforts of Reverend Alvan Waller.  The bricks for the building were fired on the University grounds and were made from clay excavated for the foundation.  University Hall, as the new building was known, was an imposing five-story building.  It was constructed in the shape of a Greek cross that became a commanding landmark in the sparsely settled Oregon country.  In 1912, University Hall was renamed Waller Hall after Reverend Alvan Waller.  In 1919 the interior of Waller Hall was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt the next year.

Reverend Joseph Wythe was elected President of Willamette University in 1865.  He was a highly accomplished administrator and educator who taught mental and moral science in the College Department, hygiene and microscopy in the Medical Department, and biblical languages and literature in the Theology Department.  His many virtues did not outweigh his habit of smoking in public, and the trustees asked Wythe to leave the University in 1867.

From 1867 to 1890 Willamette University experienced many changes along with steady growth.  The Medical College, the first professional school in the Northwest, was established at Willamette in 1867 and started offering classes that year. In 1872, the original Oregon Institute building burned down. That same year, the University grew to include an elementary school, a Commercial Department open to both men and women, and a Medical Department.  1872 also saw the Music Department grant its own degrees.  The annual enrollment at Willamette during the 1870’s averaged about 280 students, out of that number, 81 were college students.

"Waller Hall."  Historic Salem: An Inventory of Historic Places: City of Salem: February 1989.