Penn State University Libraries recently launched an ArcGIS hub that stores several maps highlighting both State College and Penn State’s transformation over time through geospatial data.

There are several interesting maps that people can look at, whether it be State College Land Use Over Time or maps of Altoona, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. Truly, though, the most interesting map in this collection is State College Change Through Time.

Below, we’ll use the visualizations to show you the evolution of Penn State and its buildings from 1906 to 1929 — the most recent set of maps that the ArcGIS hub offers so far.

1906

Penn State was a small university back in 1906. Anything east of where the HUB sits today practically did not exist at the time. But, there are some cool components that are still around, although they are used in new ways today.

Old Main was still the center of campus, as noted by the blue building on the map. Staples like Carnegie, McAllister, and Schwab Auditorium were in use at the time in the same spot that they are located today.

However, most of these buildings had different uses at the time. Carnegie, at the time, was the school library, while McAllister was the boys’ dormitory. There was also an armory that’s clearly no longer on campus these days.

1911

A lot of these buildings remained the same about five years later, but there are some notable differences and additions in 1911, including the expansion of land on campus.

In the southernmost part of campus, there was the Department of Mining. Oddly enough, that building looks eerily similar to what Hammond looks like today. Hammond wasn’t built until 1958, though, so the Department of Mining could have been an inspiration for the design.

There also seemed to be more cottages and dorms than in 1906. In 1906, there was one girls’ dormitory and one boys’ dormitory. Five years later, they had cottages and dorms all throughout the east area of campus. As time moves forward, population at Penn State grew, and more dorms needed to be developed.

1922

There wasn’t a whole lot of change in terms of on-campus buildings, but that’s likely due to World War I. The war meant that there were very few students coming to campus since they were fighting overseas. Additionally, Penn State was likely lacking in resources that were instead directed toward the war effort.

However, the university did add engineering buildings to the cluster of facilities in the southern part of campus. Included in those developments were Engineering Buildings A, B, and C, which are still on campus today.

The other big noticeable change is that, at this point, there are more residential homes being developed on the north end of campus. The map is starting to resemble what the State College area looks like in 2022 as downtown State College continues to grow along with the local residential neighborhoods.

1929

The university is continuing to grow as the country heads into the 1930s and eventually into the Great Depression. A new recreation building was created located exactly where Rec Hall stands today. Also, the Department of Mining changed into different, unnamed buildings.

There were also new dorms added, as well as a new engineering building that was in construction at the time. Over this map’s span, we can really see State College begin to flourish just south of campus.

These maps, along with others from the greater Pennsylvania commonwealth, are available online.