Whitman College - Campus

Campus

Whitman's 117 acre campus is located in downtown Walla Walla, Washington. Most of the campus is centered around a quad, which serves as the location for intramural field sports. Around this, Ankeny Field, sits Penrose Library, Olin Hall and Maxey Hall, and two residence halls, Lyman and Jewett. South of Ankeny Field, College Creek meanders through the main campus, filling the artificially created "Lakem Duckum", the heart of campus and the habitat for many of Whitman's beloved ducks.

The oldest building on campus is the administrative center, Whitman Memorial Building, commonly referred to as "Mem". Built in 1899, the hall, like the college, serves as a memorial to the Dr. Marcus and Narcissa Prentiss Whitman. The building is the tallest on campus, and was placed on the National Historical Register of Historic Places in 1974. The oldest residence halls on campus, Lyman House and Prentiss Hall, were built in 1924 and 1926. Over the next fifty years, the college built or purchased several other buildings to house students, including the former Walla Walla Valley General Hospital, which was transformed into North Hall in 1978. In addition to the nine Residence Halls, many students choose to live in the eleven "Interest Houses," run for Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors committed to specific focuses such as community service and French language. These houses, like most of the residential architecture of the Walla Walla are in the Victorian or Craftsman style.

In addition to property in Walla Walla, the college also has about 22,000 acres (89 km2) of other land holdings - mainly in the form of wheat farms in Eastern Washington and Oregon. Of special note: the Johnston Wilderness Campus, which is used for academic and social retreats.