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University Archives: Researching Cal Poly

Researching Cal Poly in the University Archives and beyond

Cal Poly's Physical Infrastructure

The University Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the construction and layout of campus and buildings since 1903. 

This includes: 

  • Architectural drawings of campus buildings
  • Master Plan documents (up to 2011 also available on Digital Commons)
  • Maps of campus
  • Land Use records
  • History of campus landscape
  • Historical research on campus buildings and sites
  • Historic photos and audiovisual materials documenting the campus

Helpful places to start:

Maps of Cal Poly

Many maps of Cal Poly are digitized and browsable at the Online Archive   1999 map of Cal Poly

Here are selected representative maps found at the links above, in chronological order:

Additional maps of interest:

Note: If you are looking for a specific year that you do not find at the links above, you can also often find maps of campus in the course catalogs.

Image caption: 1999 campus map from the 1999 Course Catalog, pg 529. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/catalogs/85/

Architectural Plans

You can access many of the original architectural plans for campus buildings via the Facilities Web Plan Room: https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/campus-maps/web-plan-room (Cal Poly login required).

For projects that are not found at the above link (such as demolished buildings), University Archives may have the original print drawings.