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TEXT
McMinnville
Telephone Register newspaper
Thursday,
March 6, 1941
LINFIELD
CAMPUS DESIGNER PASSES
Samuel (Christopher)
Lancaster, 76, famed Oregon highway engineer and designer of the Linfield
college campus, died at his Portland home Tuesday morning after a month’s
illness.
Mr.
Lancaster gained widespread repute for his achievement in construction of the
scenic Columbia River highway. Its location and construction were under his
personal supervision. He was also known for work on the north rim highway of
the Grand canyon, the highway through Bryce canyon, Seattle’s boulevard system,
and other projects.
He laid
out the present attractive plot of the Linfield college campus in 1928, just
prior to the college’s building program which saw Melrose hall completed in
1929. Funeral services were held this (Thursday) afternoon at Finley’s Morninglight
chapel in Portland.
…
The campus
grounds remain a wilderness accessible by wooden bridges over the Cozine Creek
until 1928 when a campus improvement program was undertaken, to include the
construction of Melrose Hall, the campus Administration Building. Samuel Lancaster, the architect of the
Columbia Gorge Highway, was engaged to design a campus plan at that time.
…
“Inspired
Pragmatism: An Illustrated History of Linfield College,” published in 2007.
“Visitors
to Linfield College invariably remark on its attractive grounds. These received
their main shape during the presidency of Leonard Riley, who hired John Charles
Olmstead to outline a master plan that, twenty years later, was finalized by
Samuel Lancaster, builder and landscape architect for the Columbia (River) Highway
and J.C. Compton, a trustee…”
…
http://www.pbs.org/wned/frederick-law-olmsted/learn-more/john-charles-olmsted-the-pacific-northwest/
“Laurelhurst
Park and Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland. Volunteer Park and Lake Washington
Boulevard in Seattle. Corbin and Manito parks in Spokane. The campuses of
Linfield College in McMinnville and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon;
Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington; the University of Washington in
Seattle; the University of Idaho in Moscow; and the grounds of the State
Capitol in Olympia, Washington. The Highlands residential development in
Seattle and the Uplands in Victoria, British Columbia. All of these sites
demonstrate the inimitable Olmsted landscape design imprint, the clear
influence of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. But in fact all of them, and many others
in the Pacific Northwest, were designed by John Charles Olmsted.”
…
In
November 1907, landscape architect John Charles Olmsted visited the campus to
advise the school on the design of the campus.
….
John Charles
Olmsted was invited by three Oregon college presidents to visit their campuses.
The invitations came from Leonard W. Riley, of
McMinnville
College (now Linfield College), William Jasper Kerr of Oregon Agricultural College
(OSU) and William N. Ferrin at Pacific University in Forest Grove. Olmsted's advice
came at an early point in the development of each of the three campuses, which was
timely and had a lasting impact. McMinnville College was the first to contract with
Olmsted in 1907, who recommended the addition of twenty-three buildings, arranged
around three quadrangles. Olmsted recommended uniformity of materials and trim color,
which included common red brick. This uniformity can be seen today even in newly
constructed buildings on Linfield's campus. Olmsted also advised maintaining the
oak grove at the entrance to the college. The College took his advice, and the oak
grove still exists, where graduation services are traditionally held.” Source: Joan
Hockaday, "Oregon Places: John Charles Olmsted and Campus Design in
Oregon," Oregon Historical Quarterly 108.2 (2007)
…
The campus
is one of rare beauty. When John C. Olmstead, the well-known landscape
architect, first looked out upon it he exclaimed: "McMinnville College is
most fortunate in the selection of its campus." Some day one of the Lord's
favored servants will provide the funds for the development of its
possibilities. Entrance pillars and arches, proper grading, concrete walks,
flower beds, shrubbery, rare trees and plants will make it one of the most
entrancing spots in the Northwest.
