Widney Alumni House - Where USC Began in 1880

A stop on USC Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This modest wooden Victorian building is the oldest university building in Southern California and the place where USC began. On September 4, 1880, a crowd that was said to equal about a tenth of the town's population gathered for the cornerstone ceremony. A month later, the first class of 53 students walked through these doors, and for years the building held classrooms, the library and Sunday services.

The leading founder was Judge Robert Maclay Widney, whose statue stands nearby. The land came from three Los Angeles civic leaders, Ozro Childs, former governor John Downey and banker Isaias Hellman, a Protestant, a Catholic and a Jew who joined to back the new school.

The house has traveled more than most buildings. It started north of where Bovard now stands and has been moved four times, most recently in 1997 to this spot on Childs Way. It is a California Historical Landmark and a city monument.

Compare its simple wooden walls with the brick giants around it: everything here grew from this.

Getting here: From Leavey, walk south along the east side of campus to Childs Way, about four minutes. Look for the wooden Victorian building and the bronze statue of Judge Widney.

Did you know?: USC's first president, Marion McKinley Bovard, opened this building to students in 1880. His younger brother George was in USC's first graduating class and later became the president Bovard Auditorium is named for.

Photo op: Stand across Childs Way to fit the whole wooden facade in the frame, with the statue of Judge Widney in the foreground.

More on Wikipedia: Widney Alumni House · Robert M. Widney · Isaias W. Hellman · John G. Downey

Widney Alumni House - Where USC Began in 1880

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