The U of M at Orono was established at a time when part of the students' curriculum included supplying the labour required to built the campus. Yes, indeed, in the morning it was classes and, in the afternoon, construction. Founded in 1862, the University of Maine at Orono opened its doors for the first time on September 21, 1868. Significant portions of the original layout were taken from a design by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. A second master plan, by Carl Rust Parker of the Olmsted Brothers firm, was adopted in 1932 and had been, for the most part, implemented by this time.
Today the flagship campus of the University of Maine, Orono campus hosts over 11,000 students. The largest university in the state, it is the only institution in Maine classified as a research university and was also the first university in Maine. Originally known as the Maine College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, today the university boasts 90 undergraduate programs within five Colleges: the College of Business, Public Policy and Health; the College of Education and Human Development; the College of Engineering; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture.
We can park at the
Fay Hyland Arboretum, so let's start our walk here. In 2002 the campus of the University of Maine at Orono was declared an arboretum. In addition to the 10 acre Fay Hyland Arboretum, established in 1934, the entire campus is now an arboretum, encompassing many areas of plantings of native and non-native trees and plants. Many of these plantings and gardens, including the Fay Hyland Arboretum, are constantly under study by students and researchers in such disciplines as dendrology, horticulture, and plant taxonomy.
Significant portions of the original layout of the campus, which first opened on September 21, 1868, were taken from a design by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. A second master plan, by Carl Rust Parker of the Olmsted Brothers firm, was adopted and implemented in 1932.
In the arboretum you'll also see a peace pole (N 44° 53.954 W 068° 39.968).
From here we walk 625 metres northeast to the
Emera Astronomy Center Planetarium.
The new $5.2 million Emera Astronomy Center at the University of Maine, Orono, opened in 2014, with a $1 million gift from Emera Maine. It is comprised of an observatory and this planetarium.
The campus has been home to the Maynard F. Jordan Observatory since 1901. This planetarium and observatory were built away from the old observatory at a location at the east end of Long Road on the fringes of the campus, behind the parking lot off Rangeley Road, where the skies are darker.
From here, we go about 700 metres west to the
Alumni Memorial Gymnasium.
Built in 1933 at a cost of a half million dollars, Alumni Memorial Gymnasium stands as a memorial to those who did not return from World War I. Built through the gifts of alumni and friends in memory of those lost in World War I, it has been home to sports teams of the university ever since. In 2014 a major renovation and addition was underway, ultimately a $15.65 million renovation project.
In front of the Gymnasium, to the south, we'll see the
UMO Black Bear.
Since time immemorial (almost) the major University of Maine at Orono sports teams have been known as the Black Bears. UMO Black Bear, (UMO = University [of] Maine [at] Orono) sculpted by Patricia Verani, was dedicated on June 9th, 1979, 111 years after the official opening of the university.
South from here we'll pass some of the older buildings on campus on our way south to
Carnegie Hall.
For forty years the library of the University of Maine at Orono, Carnegie Hall today supplies studio and exhibit space for the Art Department. One of 2,509 Carnegie libraries built between 1883 and 1929, Carnegie Hall served the university until 1947, at which time it was replaced as a library by the Fogler Library. Funded to the tune of $50,000 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, the building was designed by architects Brainerd and Leeds of Boston. It is one of the few Carnegie Libraries on college campuses today.
Then just a bit east we stop at one of the original campus buildings,
Winslow Hall.
Built in 1908-09 as the agricultural department building, Winslow Hall remains in use as the home of the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. Originally named the Hall of Agriculture, the building was later renamed Winslow Hall in honor of Edward Brackett Winslow, who served as president of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine from 1908 to 1911. Designed by William Hart Taylor of Boston, today this building houses several departments.
From here it's back to our starting point at the arboretum. On the way we'll also pass the old Maynard F Jordan Observatory, until 2014, when the new observatory opened, the only public observatory in the State of Maine (N 44° 53.938 W 068° 40.046).