Map of Lava Ridge.

Historic Preservation Program

The University of Oregon Historic Preservation program—the oldest such program west of the Rockies—operates out of the University of Oregon’s main campus, transitioning back to Eugene, sunsetting its time in the White Stag Building in downtown Portland after seven years of successful operation.  

Students will take classes in the 1923 portion of Lawrence Hall, designed by famed-Oregon architect Ellis Lawrence. This space is shared with the larger School of Architecture and Environment enrollees, which helps to foster collaboration among the other disciplines sited here: architecture, landscape architecture, and interior architecture, as well as art history. 

As noted with the transition of the program from Portland back to Eugene after the closing of the 2023-2024 academic year, the Historic Preservation Program will offer select Historic Preservation courses to current University of Oregon students in the 2024-2025 academic year in Eugene, and anticipates accepting Historic Preservation program applications for the 2025-2026 academic year. Please check back for updates.


The Student Experience

three students measure wood at field school
Pacific Northwest Field School students 2016

Portland hosts a very active preservation community that offers many opportunities for both internships and permanent employment for UO students. UO also offers a specialization in historic preservation for master’s degree students in architecture and a minor in historic preservation for undergraduates at the Eugene campus. Graduates of our Historic Preservation Program are employed in a wide range of preservation-related fields, including private architectural firms, city planning departments, state historic preservation offices, federal cultural resources divisions, and nonprofit agencies.


Hands-on Environment

Our program emphasizes experiential learning in which students apply their academic study to field-based preservation work. This commitment starts with our field school, in which students learn practical skills in building materials and construction on historic sites throughout the Pacific Northwest and continues with a variety of partnerships with preservation organizations, such as state and national parks agencies, the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, the Oregon Historical Society, and the City of Portland.

Examples of projects that UO preservation students have worked on in recent years include conservation of a 1930s CCC complex at Mt. Rainier National Park, identification and interpretation of historic properties in a historically African-American neighborhood in Portland’s Albina neighborhood, and proposals for reuse of Multnomah County’s 1914 courthouse.


Research Spotlight

Photo of a colorful mural

Detail of a Portland mural by artist Mehran Heard that depicts Portland's African American heritage including the Albina neighborhood.

Historic Preservation Receives Mellon Grant to Tell Story of Portland’s African Americans

The Historic Preservation (HP) program has received a three-year research grant to explore the history of Portland’s African American community as part of the new Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice. Some of the $4.52 million award to the UO from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is designated for HP to support a digital mapping project using existing historical archives and residents’ oral histories to tell the story of the historically Black community of Albina, from wartime boom to urban renewal to a community facing the rapid gentrification of a neighborhood in the 21st century.

Learn More


Enrich Your Academic Experience

In addition to classroom learning opportunities, students can take advantage of opportunities at the Watzek House and the Shire, part of the John Yeon Center for Architecture and the Landscape. During the summer participate in a field school in the Pacific Northwest at a location chosen annually.


Connect with Us


Learn More

Students interested in our graduate program can tour the Portland campus, and students interested in our undergraduate offerings can tour our Eugene campus to learn more about what we offer. The Historic Preservation Program is temporarily not accepting new applications while the curriculum undergoes review. Please check back for updates.


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