The site defaults to the map for 1833; use the Choose Year widget to change the date.

To move the map: click and drag your mouse.

To zoom: use the and buttons or the scroll wheel on your mouse.

To recenter: use the globe button

To add grid: click on the layers button

To identify structure: click on a structure to find its name.

To zoom to a structure: click on the structure's name in the Structure Directory

New College Structure: indicates the year the structure was built, or acquired by the College.

Disappeared structures: structures are removed from the map after they were demolished or sold by the College.

Structure Directory: this is a table of all College structures (buildings, fields, etc.). For each structure it includes the name, year built or acquired, grid location, and a link to more information on the Architecture of Oberlin College resource, created and maintained by the Oberlin College Archives.

Purpose

A record of the physical structures and open areas dedicated to instruction, housing, the arts, athletics, and recreation is vital to understanding an institution like Oberlin College. While the Oberlin College Archives has campus maps that have been created through the years by different departments for various audiences and purposes, this site provides a map of the Oberlin College campus for each year from 1833 to 2023, on the same basemap, making it possible for anyone with an interest in Oberlin’s rich history to track changes in the built environment and see the evolution of the footprint of the College over time.

Project Team

The original conception for the map sequence was by Lee C. Drickamer (OC 1967) who is Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. He returned to Oberlin in retirement to work on several history book projects. Clara Margaret Flood (OC 2018) is the person most responsible for the overall design and execution of the complete dossier of maps. She is an Instructor and Laboratory Manager in the Department of Geosciences at Oberlin. Clara Margaret holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research interests include GIS, web applications of GIS, and cartography. It is typical of Oberlin that two alumni, who graduated 51 years apart, to find a useful collaboration such as this project.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Oberlin College Archives for the invaluable Architecture of Oberlin College guide and to the Oberlin College Libraries for hosting the maps. Megan Mitchell, Academic Engagement & Digital Initiatives Coordinator for the Oberlin College Libraries, provided technology consultations.

Questions?

Ask the Oberlin College Archives! archive@oberlin.edu