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Red brick building behind a rose garden

Eaton Hall

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Written by Jess Kimmel, Class of 2025

On the north side of the Willamette campus stands Eaton Hall, an imposing, four-story behemoth of red brick and stone. While it now houses several of Willamette’s humanities departments, Eaton has played a crucial role for both the academic and administrative needs of the University in the 125 years since it was built.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, the future of Willamette was in jeopardy, as the university found itself lacking the infrastructure to support the needs of the growing student population. The College of Liberal Arts was housed primarily in the “Old Institute” building (where Smullin/Walton Hall now stands) and in desperate need of more classroom space. Unfortunately, the university was unable to afford the cost of a new building due to a significant amount of debt.

Willamette’s saving grace came in the form of Abel E. Eaton (1834-1917). Originally from New Hampshire, Eaton settled in Union, OR, in the 1860s, where he became an influential member of the community, serving as the town’s mayor and later as the owner of the Union Woolen Mill. A devout Methodist and the owner of a “modest fortune,” Eaton wished to leave a lasting legacy to support the future of Christian higher education, and so pledged a gift of $50,000 to the University to support the creation of a new academic building (at that time the largest individual gift that Willamette had ever received!). The terms of Eaton’s gift were rather unusual: instead of simply gifting the money, he also insisted on overseeing the building process himself at every step of the way, with a degree of creative control over the architectural style and other specifications. Unable to look a gift horse in the mouth, Willamette graciously accepted the gift, with arrangements first being made by University President John Coleman, and later settled by Coleman’s successor, Fletcher Homan (who maintained a close correspondence with Eaton over the next several years, considering him a good friend).

The project was spearheaded by J.E. Tourtellotte, a Portland architect responsible for designing many public and commercial buildings across the Pacific Northwest. At Eaton’s request, the building was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which was somewhat obsolete at the time, having been abandoned in favor of the more popular Classical Revival style. It was constructed of red pressed brick and stone, finished in Oregon fir wood, and stood three stories high and 150 feet long. The original building included a central cupola as well as spires on the towers in each corner, but these were later removed in 1967, citing high maintenance costs. The cornerstone was laid in December 1908 by a local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which Eaton was a member, and was completed and dedicated as Eaton Hall less than a year later on September 21st, 1909. Students lovingly referred to Abel E. Eaton afterward as “Our Grand Old Man,” and according to a 1909 Willamette Bulletin, Eaton’s gift “effectually [settled] the question as to the perpetuity of [Willamette University].” Beyond his funding of Eaton Hall, Eaton also made Willamette his residuary beneficiary, which resulted in around $100,000 being gifted to the university after his death in 1917.

Sketches of Eaton Hall with and without the cupola

For the next several decades, Eaton Hall served as home to many of Willamette’s administrative offices, the library, the museum, the biology and physics departments, and various classrooms and reading rooms. The attic  provided storage space for administrative records and equipment. The new building proved to be even more of a godsend after Waller Hall was severely damaged in a destructive fire in 1919. Eaton notably played host to Professor Morton Peck’s herbarium, containing tens of thousands of mounted plant specimens and at one point said to be the world’s largest collection of Oregonian wildflowers. With the creation of the Collins Science Center in the early 1940s, the herbarium was relocated from Eaton along with the biology department.

Eaton Hall also played an unfortunate role in Willamette’s colonial history, as the attic famously provided a storage space for Indigenous artifacts and human remains that had come into the University’s possession since its founding. Before the introduction of NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) in 1990, there was no widespread legislation preventing institutions from holding on to such finds. Some were taken from burial grounds by students or faculty during archaeological digs, while others were given to the University by private collectors. Certain artifacts were featured in the displays on the third floor of Eaton that focused on the life of early settlers and Indigenous groups, and at least one Kalapuya woman’s skeleton was displayed publicly on the second floor of Eaton in the 1960s. In1997, seven years after NAGPRA, that Willamette first took a complete inventory of these acquisitions and extended an offer of repatriation to as many as 350 tribal groups.

Occupying such a central position on campus naturally made Eaton Hall the site of many student pranks, such as the theft of a covered wagon from the Homecoming dance, which was then disassembled and reassembled on the third floor of Eaton; a Ford Model T being brought up the front steps and displayed with the sign “Honest Herb’s Used Cars,” referencing University President G. Herbert Smith; and finally, a sadly uncorroborated legend of a cow being brought into Eaton Hall in the middle of the night, only to be discovered the next morning by a secretary who was not paid nearly enough to deal with such things.

The next important chapter in the development of Eaton Hall came about in 1982, when it underwent significant renovations as a part of Willamette’s Capital Campaign, an effort to modernize the campus during the terms of Willamette University Presidents Robert Lisensky and Jerry E. Hudson. These renovations included significant changes to the building’s interior in order to make better use of the space, and an upgrade of the electrical systems. The changes were intended to be as inconspicuous as possible in the interest of historical integrity and commitment to the original design. Thus, the only exterior change to the building was a remodeling of the quadside entrance. Unfortunately, several boxes of historical records were accidentally disposed of during this process and were never recovered. The renovations were completed in roughly five months, and had an overall cost of $1.7 million. In 1983, the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce awarded Willamette a Beautification Award for these changes. At this time, the administrative and financial offices were moved to the University Center, leaving the building entirely dedicated to its academic functions.  A second round of renovations later occurred in 2003, with the focus on replacing the roof of Eaton Hall and converting the attic space into a fourth floor for more classroom space.

Today, Eaton Hall remains as the fourth oldest building still standing on the Willamette campus (behind Waller Hall, Gatke Hall, and the Art Building). While it may no longer be the university’s central hub, it still holds a significant place in the hearts and minds of students and faculty alike; particularly those of Willamette’s Anthropology, Classics, English, History, Philosophy, Public Health, and Religious Studies departments, which are housed within its walls.

Written Spring 2024

Works Referenced

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  • “Academic Programs.” Willamette University
  • “Biography of Abel E. Eaton.” Access Genealogy, 9 June 2011, 
  • “Eaton Hall.” Oregon Historic Sites Database, 
  • Eaton Hall Specifications, 1908 – 1909, 1923, Box: 3, Folder: 6. Willamette University Office of the President records, WUA006. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.
  • Eaton, Mr. E. A., 1908-1910,, Box: 3, Folder: 5. Willamette University Office of the President records, WUA006. Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.
  • “Fire Destroys Capital.” Statesman Journal, 26 Apr. 1935, p. 2.
  • Gatke, Robert Moulton, and Robert D. Gregg. Chronicles of Willamette. Binfords & Mort, 1943.
  • Prange, Conrad. “Fifth Callapuya Indian (a Skeleton) Has Entered Willamette U.—to Stay.” Statesman Journal, 6 Mar. 1961, p. 5. 
  • The Willamette Collegian (1875-),. Issues referenced range 1910-2022.
  • The Willamette Scene (1967 – 2014),. Issues referenced range 1982-2012
  • The Willamette University Alumnus (1926-1970),. Issues referenced range 1927-1960.
  • Willamette University Catalogs and Bulletin (1860-2007),. Issues referenced range 1909-1917.
  • Willingham, William F. Collegiate Architecture and Landscape in the West: Willamette University, 1842-2012. Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, 2019.

Image Citations

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