Springfield (KMTR) - Architecture students are sharing their findings on the oldest building at Dorris Ranch, in Springfield.
The Briggs farmhouse was built around 1874; fifteen years after Oregon became a state.
University of Oregon students are carefully removing parts of the farmhouse to figure out what it looked like more than 100 years ago.
It's almost like an archaeological dig as they go through the house, layer by layer, finding old wallpaper, floorboards and even a fireplace that had been walled up for years.
“It’s very different from what we see today,” says architecture student Michael Fischer, “and it really tells you a lot about how building methods have changed over the years. And it really says something about how we and how our lifestyles have changed over the years as well.”
The students displayed their findings Saturday to mark May as National Preservation Month, highlighting unique structures like the Briggs farmhouse.
Springfield was settled when Elias and Mary Briggs and their family arrived in 1848.
