Celebrating Our Sesquicentennial
Photographs from the Penn State University Archives
6th in a series
Penn State's first formal master plan to guide campus development came about in 1907, when renowned New York landscape architect Charles Lowrie, commissioned by the Board of Trustees, overlaid the existing campus with a rectangular grid of streets and proposed grouping new buildings by academic discipline. The Lowrie Plan provided the foundation for later master plans that helped the University avoid haphazard growth and create one the most attractive and people-friendly academic settings in the nation. But even in the 19th century, thanks to the beautification work of William Waring and other pioneer faculty, the campus exhibited an idyllic quality, as seen in this view from 1886 from the upper floor of the President's residence. Old Main is in the distance. Elm trees line the Allen Street mall. The water course in the foreground still exists, spanned by the new Ridge Riley Bridge. Click here for a contemporary view from this same perspective.

Visit the photo archive
for previous photos from our year-long historical series

Penn State University Archives is part of The Eberly Family Special Collections Library,
of the Penn State University Libraries.

Copyright 2004 The Pennsylvania State University
The Penn State Sesquicentennial web pages are maintained by the Office of Advancement Projects
301 Old Main - The Pennsylvania State University - University Park, PA - 16802 - 814-863-4512