Condon Hall - University of Oregon - Eugene, OR - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

CONDON HALL, SE corner I3th and Kincaid St., designed and built in 1924 as the first wing of a larger structure, perpetuates the name of Dr. Thomas Condon, pioneer geologist and discoverer of many rare fossils, who was a member of the faculty from the founding of the institution until his death in 1907. It houses laboratories and classrooms for geology, geography, anthropology and pshychology, as well as the collections of the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (open 8-5 weekdays). The herbarium contains specimens from Oregon and the Northwest, the eastern United States, and the Philippine Islands. The geological specimens include Miocene and Pleistocene invertebrate fossils from the Coos Bay vicinity, and mammal fauna from the John Day region fossil beds, in which Dr. Condon made his most noteworthy discoveries.

Condon Hall originally housed geology, geography, psychology, and temporarily the UO Library, but only the Geography Department still occupies its original departmental office. Condon was intended to be the north wing of a larger building housing the sciences, but this plan was abandoned in the 1940s (after the wiring of the WPA Guide). The 1968 south addition was not built where Lawrence had provided a brick knock-out panel, and its character is at odds with the original building, but Condon otherwise maintains most of its original exterior character.