A Site is Chosen
Due to the inadequacy and condition of the campus on North Clinton Avenue in Trenton, thirty sites for a new school were considered. Because it was the only plot of adequate size, and was available within the limits of the money appropriated, a committee recommended the purchase of the "Hillwood Lakes area owned by C. V. Hill for $85,000." The Board at its meeting in October 1928 ordered the committee to buy the Hillwood site and an additional 187 feet on Pennington road at $50 per foot.

When the Hillwood Lakes Campus opened on September 17, 1931, some classes were conducted on the new campus while the rest were still held on the Clinton Avenue site. By the 1934-1935 school year, all classes were held at the Hillwood Lakes Campus. Approximately two hundred students, however, still lived on the Trenton campus. In February of 1936 the entire Trenton campus was closed and all operations were transferred to the new campus.

Original Buildings
Two buildings that could be used for college purposes stood on the site of the new campus. One of these was the "Inn," which for a few years had been a dining and dancing location for many people in the vicinity of Trenton. It was decided that this could be used for a dining hall until a new building could be constructed. The original capacity of the building was about 200, but it became apparent during the depression that money would not be available for a new dining hall; a large addition was built in 1934. The second building in the original purchase was the "Brown Bungalow" across the road from the Inn. For several years this was used as a Medical Unit and later housed ten or twelve students each year.

First Construction
After the purchase of the site for the new campus in 1928, the Committee on Construction of the State Board of Education proceeded with the building program. Buildings and facilities costing nearly three million dollars were constructed between 1930 and 1936. These original buildings included Green Hall, Kendall Hall, Roscoe L. West Library, Allen, Ely, and Brewster Houses, Packer Hall, Bliss Hall, Norsworthy Hall, and the Power House. In 1940 approximately 85 acres (the Blackwell Farm) were purchased, thus providing a total campus of over 185 acres.

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