This building was constructed in 1912 and originally known as the Farm Mechanics Building. The Farm Mechanics Building housed new machinery for tilling and harvesting, including a Oliver Engine Gang plow and a $4,000, 60-horse power, caterpillar traction engine. The new building also had both lighting and heating, meaning that classes would no longer be interrupted in the colder winter months. In the new building, students learned the practical application of new agricultural machinery, and how best to maintain and repair that machinery.

On September 9 1938, it was heavily damaged by a fire caused by an experimental hop drier; it was reconstructed and expanded in 1939, and renamed the Agricultural Engineering Building. Portland architect John Bennes designed both the original building, and the 1939 expansion. In 1965, the Agricultural Engineering Building was renamed Gilmore Hall, in honor of William J. Gilmore, the head of the Farm Mechanics / Agricultural Engineering Department from 1915 to 1945.

SCARC: SCARC's archival holdings include collections documenting the history of the Farm Mechanics building, including photographs, college publications, and the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection.

Oregon Digital: Includes both images and publications documenting the history of the Farm Mechanics building.