Oregon School For The Blind
It was also known as the Oregon State School for the Blind (OSSB) and Oregon Institute for the Blind.
History
Established in 1872 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly as the Institute for the Blind, the school was to provide free public education to blind children. The next year the school opened on February 26, and its first classes were held in a private home. In 1881, former Portland mayor Henry Failing donated land to build the school.
In late 1911, a new pipe organ was installed on the campus at a cost of $2,000. The school's organist instructor T. S. Roberts gave the dedicatory recital on November 28.
In 2005, by order of the state legislature, a study was begun on the potential benefit of moving the school to the Oregon School for the Deaf campus.
The 2009 Oregon legislature eliminated funding for the OSB, with plans to sell the property. OSB closed in July 2009 with the 8.33-acre (3.37 ha) site set to be put up for sale in May 2010. However, a group composed of opponents of the school closure and Failing's heirs are suing the State to prevent it from selling the property. Salem Hospital, Willamette University, and Western Oregon University all expressed interest in acquiring the land.
In March 2010, the legislature passed a law that allocated half the proceeds from the sale of the former school site to educating blind students in Oregon. The other half of the funds are to go towards improvements at the Oregon School for the Deaf's campus. The law settled the lawsuits filed against the state from the descendants of the land donors, and the campus was sold to Salem Hospital for $6 million in August 2010.
Salem Hospital demolished the last remaining historic school building, the John V. Bennes-designed Howard Hall, in 2015.
Campus
Howard Hall served as the dormitory.