1930

Corvallis population: 7,585; Benton County: 16,555.

1931

The Post Office building in downtown Corvallis, Oregon, is constructed.

1931

The building that will house the Corvallis Public Library is completed. It is designed by the architectural firm of A.E. Doyle and Associates of Portland and is generally attributed to the genius of Pietro Belluschi, head of the firm and chief designer, who is also responsible for the Portland Art Museum and Portland's Equitable Building, both critically acclaimed.

1931

Notre Dame football legend Knute Rockne pays his last visit to Corvallis in February. He is on a 25,000-mile tour sponsored by Studebaker. He is picked up at the train station by his friend, Paul Schissler, head football coach at Oregon State, and the two highlight their time together with a promise to have the two schools meet on the gridiron in Oregon in 1933. Rockne died in a plane crash a month later and the game the two men dreamed of playing didn't happen until the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in 2001.

1931

The Philomath public library opens in Philomath, Oregon.

1931

OSAC is hit hard by the Great Depression. The staff is reduced to 66 positions; remaining staff must donate one day's income each month for five months; a staff salary cut is initiated by members.

1933

The worst year for building construction in Corvallis history. Only three permits were issued for the 12-month period.

1933

First annual "Dad's Weekend" established at OSAC.

1935

Oregon State Agricultural College awards its first Ph.D. degree.

1935

The Work Projects Administration (WPA) was established in 1935 by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The WPA employed millions of Americans and many of the products of their labor are still utilized and enjoyed today.

The Benton County Historical Society is honored to be an official custodian of WPA art by Oregon artists, including Percy Manser, Charles Heaney, Eric Lamade, Martina Gangle, C.C. McKim, Edward Sewall, Robert E. Harbison, Conrad G. Pedersen, William Forsyth McIlwraith, and others.

1935

Corvallis High School moves from its Central Park location to a new art deco building a half mile to the northwest on 11th Street. The old building becomes the junior high school until it is destroyed by fire in 1946.

1936

Ralph Hull starts the Hull-Oakes Company, a steam-powered lumber mill.

1936

T.J. Starker and Rex Clemens begin buying forest land.

1936

Stimson's Addition is platted for Corvallis, Oregon.

1937

In one of the most remarkable stories in the history of Oregon prep sports, the boys basketball team from the tiny farming community of Bellfountain in southern Benton County, known then as the Bellfountain Bells, defeats Portland's Lincoln High School, 35-21, for the state high school championship. Bellfountain enters the game with a student population of less than 30 students, all grades, while Lincoln is one of the city's largest, with an enrollment many hundreds more.

1937

The name of Oregon State Agricultural College is changed to Oregon State College.

1938

Country Club Heights Addition is platted in Corvallis.

1938

Philomath City Hall, built in 1938, housed the offices for the city attorney, city council, fire department, city mayor, municipal judge, police department, public works department, city recorder, street department, city treasurer, and water commission.

1939

Benton-Lincoln Electric (later Consumers Power) incorporates to provide electric service to rural areas.

1939

Longhill Heights Addition is platted for Corvallis, Oregon.