Vol. 38, No. 18

3-1-2006
By: Randy Gammage

Orton Hall: Sentinel of Ohio State

Perched on the southeastern edge of the Oval, with its contrasting stone and legendary bell tower, is one of Ohio State's most treasured icons: Orton Hall.

Completed in 1893, Orton Hall is among the oldest structures on the Ohio State campus and one of four campus buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. It currently houses offices for the Department of Geological Sciences and laboratories of paleontology, historical geology, tectonics and sedimentology, as well as the popular Orton Geological Museum and the Geological Library.

The building is a fitting tribute to the department for which it was built. Its construction tells the geologic history of Ohio through the use of indigenous stones. The exterior stones are placed in the same stratigraphic layers as they occur in Ohio's bedrock, said Bill Ausich, professor of geological sciences and director of the museum. The interior features an ornate lobby with stained glass, clay tile floors and stone pillars that illustrate 24 Ohio building stones.

"This is the most impressive room on campus," Ausich said as he scanned the two-story, open-ceiling library, pointing out unique details like the large "Os" placed in the wood railing encircling the balcony.

The cork library floors add to the building's uniqueness. "They were designed for quiet back in the days when men wore hob nail boots that were very noisy," added Geology Librarian Mary Scott.

Like most historic buildings, a generous share of maintenance challenges accompanies the captivating charm of Orton Hall. "Replacement flooring, door frames and windows have to be custom made to maintain the historic integrity of the building," said Karen Tyler, building coordinator.

Named in honor of Edward Orton, Ohio State's first president and a professor of geology from 1873-99, the building housed the university's main library from 1893-1912. After the University Library moved to its current location, Orton's son, Edward Orton Jr., established the Orton Memorial Library of Geology in 1920 as a memorial to his father, Ausich said.

The younger Orton also initiated a collection of paintings, by well-known artists such as Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt, related to Ohio geologists and the discipline of geology.

Open to the public, the library houses 200,000 maps, a rare book room and one of the largest collections of geological science literature in an academic library in the nation. It also houses the oldest card catalog on campus.

"This is one of the icons of the university," Scott said. "To many former students, who return to visit the campus with their children and grandchildren, this is what they remember about the university."

Anchoring the Geological Museum, which is part of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, is a mounted fossil skeleton of a 7-foot-tall giant ground sloth - one of four found in the state. A 4-foot-long replica skull of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, and the late Jurassic carnivorous dinosaur Cryolophosaurus ellioti, named after David Elliot, the Ohio State professor who discovered it in Antarctica in 1990, also are on display. And keeping approximately 10,000 yearly visitors on their toes is a giant South American armadillo and a 20-foot-long carnivorous fish, Dunkleosteus, that ruled the seas 380 million years ago.

The museum's gift shop sells dinosaur models, minerals, fossils, books, posters and T-shirts, but the dinosaur hand puppets and dinosaur grabbers that emit a screeching sound are best sellers, Ausich said.

The museum is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and admission is free.

For additional details about Orton Hall, visit www.geology.ohio-state.edu and click on the "facilities" link.

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