Introduction
Pacific University, a private university in Oregon, was established in 1854. The school itself began many years earlier when Tabitha Brown made the difficult journey from Massachusetts to Oregon and founded a small school for children. The original school was built to function as an educational orphanage for the children whose parents lost their lives on the Applegate Trail. As the number of students grew, the school also grew to accommodate them.
With the assistance of members of the United Church of Christ as well as other Protestant churches, the school grew into an academy for children and young adults. With the donation of many acres of land, the school eventually became accredited as Pacific University and is one of the oldest universities on the west coast of the United States.
Pacific University today has four distinct campuses located all across the state of Oregon. One of these campuses is in Portland. The largest campus is the original campus in Forest Grove, Oregon. Located on over two hundred acres of beautiful land, the Forest Grove campus attracts thousands of prospective students each year who are looking for an educational institution in the Pacific Northwest.
In the past twenty years, the campuses of Pacific University have expanded by constructing several new buildings, residence halls, and resources for students and faculty. A large, brand new library was constructed in 2005, and a new residence hall known as Burlingham Hall was finished in late 2006. The school has also constructed new buildings for its Education, Business, and Computer Departments.
