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OSU Buildings Histories in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center

Building History

A color image of the Dairy Center Complex.

The OSU Dairy Research Center is located on 180 acres just west of campus in Corvallis, Oregon. The main barn was built in 1968 following a fire that destroyed the original barn at the site. The OSU campus in Corvallis has had a dairy facility for over 100 years. In 2012, the milking cows were sold to provide money for needed upgrades to the facility. The Center has "technologies such as pedometers to measure cow activity and an integrated scale for collecting body weights. Probes and meters collect information about each cow at each milking, including milking time; total pounds of milk produced; percentages of milk fat, protein, and lactose; conductivity; and somatic cell count."

General Information

Address

Off of NW Harrison Blvd, just past the intersection with Circle Blvd

Architect

Zaik and Miller Architects

Year Built

1968

Renovations

2012

Square Footage

33,050 (dairy barn)

Purpose/Usage

Teaching, research, livestock housing

Previous Name(s)

N/A

Namesake

N/A

Historic District

No

Blueprints

Facilities Services Records, 1888-2003

Maps

Facilities Services Records, 1888-2003. Series XX:  Campus, Farm, and Property Maps, 1899-1990. Campus and Farm Maps: 3-A

Oregon State University Campus Maps, 1894-1994

Photographs

Oregon State University Historical Photographs, 1868-1980
Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides Collection, 1936-1998

Further Archival Information

SCARC: The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings include two collections relating specifically to the Dairy Center; searches for "dairy" and "dairy barn" yield additional results documenting the dairy center complex as a whole.

Oregon Digital: Contains primarily textual materials documenting the Dairy Center, and one image of an exhibit on the Dairy Center's flush system.

Map