Building a History: Evaluation of Central Washington University Campus Buildings to Determine Eligibility for Listing on the National Register of Historic Places

Using U.S. Department of the Interior standards, I completed an intensive inventory of 184 buildings on the Central Washington University (CWU) campus, from which I evaluated buildings to determine their eligibility for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Historical research allowed me to identify the age of each building, as well as stylistic trends and historic events between the late nineteenth and early twenty-first centuries that influenced CWU architecture. Through archival research, I determined whether each historic building represented the work of a master architect, a distinct type, period, or method of construction/architecture, or was associated with individuals significant to the creation or operation thereof, or with events contributing to broad patterns of local or national history. To determine significance and integrity of each historic building, I compared research results with the architectural inventory, and found twenty buildings to be eligible for NRHP nomination (as of 2015). Through extensive research, I created an historical context for the physical development of CWU’s campus, which can be used in the future to facilitate evaluations of CWU buildings as they become historic. All findings were provided to CWU Facilities Management Department for incorporation into CWU’s Campus Master Plan, and to the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation as a public archive of CWU’s 2015 campus. It is recommended that eligible buildings be nominated to the NRHP.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Resource Management

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Walton, Lauren M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Daniel Herman
• Ellen Avitts
• Shane Scott

• Historic buildings
• Architectural criticism
• Cultural property
• Architectural History and Criticism
• Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis
• Historic Preservation and Conservation

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/148

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1158