The Lorado Taft Field Campus, located near Oregon, Illinois, is the outdoor recreation branch of NIU. It’s 144 acres provides both children and adults the opportunity to obtain an outdoor education.

NIU acquired the land in 1951 under the leadership of former NIU President Leslie Holmes, who had plans of using the land to improve the teaching program and for educational workshops and conferences.

NIU named the site after an artist, Lorado Taft. Taft was a sculptor who, at the 1895 World’s Fair, met a group of Chicago artists. The group decided to look for a quiet country area where they could get together during the summer season.

The first spot chosen was at Bass Lake, Indiana, and the group set up camp in the summer of 1897. The area was infested with malaria, however, so the colony decided to find a new location.

In 1898, one of Taft’s friends, an attorney named Wallace Heckman, agreed to lease the group fifteen acres of land in Ogle County on the banks of the Rock River. As long as one of the original group members was alive and resided on the land, the group could lease the land for one dollar a year.

The group named their colony the Eagle Nest Association for a tree located on the site. They built permanent structures to replace the tents in which they first lived. From 1951 to 1954, NIU renovated six of the buildings, including the two first structures built, Poley House and the home of Lorado Taft.

Taft died in 1936, and the colony “lost its spirit.” After the death of the last original member in 1942, the state of Illinois bought the land and made it a part of Lowden Memorial State Park.

On August 7, 1951, Governor Adlai Stevenson signed a bill which transferred 66 acres of Lowden Memorial State Park, located near Oregon, to NIU. The land then became known as the Lorado Taft Field Campus.

The first biology classes were held at the field campus in August, 1952. Today, elementary school students from all over the state participate in activites offered through Lorado Taft Field Campus and are a vital part of NIU’s Outdoor Teacher Education program.