Horner Museum History

During the 1914 to 1925 era, Oregon Agricultural College Professor John Horner assembled artifacts to fulfill Dean Bexell's vision of a museum on the OAC campus that would be opened to the public. A number of departments had  collected specimens to use in teaching students of biology and geology.  Horner added to these through his many contacts throughout the state.  The heirs of Albany Dr. J. Lindsey Hill gave his collection of over 1,000 natural history and pioneer artifacts and Donnegan Wiggins added his collection of firearms. Professor Horner and his friends also visited Oregon sites collecting remains of prehistoric animals and Native American artifacts.

On February 20, 1925, the Museum of the Oregon country opened in the basement of what was then the library (now Kidder Hall) in a ceremony attended by the Board of Regents, the Hill heirs, faculty and local dignitaries. At that time, the museum was said to include the collections of over 500 people.

At the opening ceremony, J. K. Weatherford said he “believed the time will come when the college can build a splendid new museum building.”

Although Horner continued to seek donations and as the collection increased, the university moved the museum to larger spaces.  The first move, in 1933, was into the “old gym” (now Gladys Valley Gymnastic Center). In 1936, the museum was re-titled the John B. Horner Museum of the Oregon Country, later shortened to the Horner Museum.

Because it was the only museum of its kind in the state then, it continued to grow, attracting collections from numerous graduates, faculty, and local residents. It moved again in 1950 to the basement of Gill Coliseum.

Horner Museum under Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

Exhibits included natural history specimens arranged against a painted landscape,

household artifacts arranged in period rooms,

and tools arranged in a mock tool shed.

State budget cuts lead to closing the museum in 1995 but in 1998 the Benton County Historical Museum agreed to take over the collection. 

The college never did open a “splendid new museum building” but this year the Benton County Historical Society will do so when it opens the new museum in downtown Corvallis.

For more on the history of the Horner collection, see

http://www.bentoncountymuseum.org/index.php/collections/subjects-objects/

To learn about the new museum, go to http://www.bentoncountymuseum.org/index.php/new-museum/

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon

 

Corvallis Chickens

Now that the forest fire smoke has cleared out, I’ve been writing while sitting outside on my deck.  One problem with this is that I get distracted watching the neighbor’s chickens running around freely in their backyard.  These chickens are attractive but not the same as those that made Benton County famous in the period circa 1920.  Those chickens were mostly white leghorns.

The growth of the local poultry business followed the establishment in 1907 of a poultry department at Oregon State University (then Oregon Agricultural College) under the leadership of James Dryden.  Dryden believed, as others did not, that selective breeding would result in more productive chickens.  Others had tried but failed. But by 1913, the OSU Poultry farm had improved both the White Leghorns and Barred Rocks and a hybrid call “Oregons.”

Oregon Agricultural College poultry farm 

One chicken, called Lady McDuff, won a lot of recognition for the program by laying a record-setting 303 eggs in 1913. The change was dramatic as the average hen then produced less than 100 eggs per year.   Newspapers around the country carried stories about this feat. She was not the only productive hen. Pens of OAC chickens also laid more eggs than other pens at the Panama Pacific Exhibition and at other egg-laying contests.

In 1911, Jess Hanson came to Oregon to work under Dryden at the agricultural experiment station.  In 1913, he established his own poultry farm on land along Western Blvd. in Corvallis.

He acquired stock from the OAC program and then commenced his own breeding program, developing the Hanson Strain of White Leghorns which produced over 200 eggs per year and won numerous egg-laying competitions

He incubated the eggs and sold over 105,000 baby chicks to buyers, making Hanson’s the largest business of its kind in the state.

The success of these two breeding programs attracted others to open their own poultry businesses in the area.

By Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon