Civil Engineering Department Records, 1966-1990

Instruction in engineering at Oregon State dates back to the 1880s with the establishment of a Mechanical Department.  Additional academic departments for engineering were established in the 1890s-1900s.

In 1889, the first engineering building on campus, Mechanical Hall, was completed and a four-year curriculum was established.  That same year, Grant Adelbert Covell was appointed to the first professorship exclusively devoted to engineering.  Soon after, he formed the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the first recorded engineering classes. 

In the following years, the college established instructional departments in three other branches of engineering: Electrical (1897), Mining (1904), and Civil (1906).  In 1908, a School of Engineering was formed to bring the four engineering departments together under a single administrative umbrella with Covell serving as Dean.