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Early Years

Our original campus on North Clinton Avenue in Trenton.

Cost of Tuition, Fees, Room and Board
1855* $0.00
1901 $160.00
1940 $430.00
1950 $629.00
1960 $983.55
1970 $1,566.50
1980 $2,705.60
1990 $6,646.00
1999 $12,015.00

Academic Buildings
When approval was given for a Normal School, the trustees placed ads in papers across the state looking for land upon which to build the school. Offers came in from New Brunswick , Beverly, Orange , and many other towns. A 2000 square-foot lot on Clinton Avenue in Trenton was chosen as the best location to erect the College's first building, which was a three-story rectangular structure. When classes started in October 1855 though, the building was not complete, and the first students attended class in a public hall. During the second week of the fall 1855 term, classes were moved to a dwelling house on Hanover and Stockton Streets.

Finally in the spring of 1856, classes were moved into the newly constructed building on Clinton Avenue . About this same time, a Model School was opened on the first floor of the Normal School. Due to its increasing enrollment, the Model School soon needed its own facility, and a new building was constructed on the lot next to the Normal School.

As the curriculum changed and enrollment increased over the years, the need arose for larger facilities. By 1890, classrooms were needed for newer subjects such as manual teaching, drawing, and physical culture. In October of that year, a new building was built which adjoined the Model and Normal School buildings. This new building featured chemistry labs, physics rooms, a manual training room, a gymnasium, and an auditorium large enough to accommodate all of the schools' students. It was soon discovered though that the gymnasium, which was housed on the second floor of the new building, was inadequate. Subsequently a new gymnasium, which featured a bowling alley in the basement, was built around the turn of the last century. It was enlarged in 1914.


Residential Buildings
The first students of the Normal School were forced to find their own room and board. To help them, the College placed ads in the Trenton newspapers seeking families willing to provide "plain and simple diet.[and] airy rooms properly warmed and ventilated, at reasonably moderate rates." Students paid five to six dollars per week to the families.

Finally, Principal John S. Hart decided that the expense and difficulty of finding suitable housing was preventing people from enrolling. Hart, along with a group of Trenton citizens, purchased the building across the street from the Normal and Model Schools and turned it into a women's dormitory, offering room and board at $3.50 a week. Within a month all 30 rooms were filled. The group quickly built a new building big enough to house 100 women. This new building was three stories tall; each of its rooms housed two women, was carpeted and furnished with a double bed and mattress, and included separate clothes closets for each woman.

When enrollment increased after the Civil War, the trustees leased an adjoining house. This third building provided rooms for an additional 30 women. A boarding room for male students was constructed around the same time. By the fall of 1873, the women's dormitory had room for 194 students and six teachers, and men's had room for 40 students and one teacher. The first residents of these dorms lived under strict rules. Students were not allowed to interact in the hallways after 7 p.m. , nor were they allowed to visit roommates between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. (study hours). "Lights out" (which in the days before electricity meant the gas was turned off) was at 10 p.m. sharp.

In 1904, a new wing was built on the women's dorm, adding 56 double rooms. This marked the completion of the dormitories as they existed on the Clinton Avenue campus. The original building was named Center Hall, while the two newer ones were named North and South Hall. The men's dormitory was behind these on Model Avenue . Over the years, improvements were made to the buildings; however, the dorms remained essentially the same until the College moved to the Ewing campus


Green Hall
During the Alumni Reunion on May 9, 1931, students and faculty gathered for the laying of the cornerstone of the Administration Building. It contained a box of documents and history relating to the College. The building was completed and occupied in September 1931, and was named in honor of James M. Green, principal of the Normal School from 1889–1917. It contained the administrative offices, the Department of Student Life, and rooms for the Departments of Fine Arts, Natural Science, and Business Education. In addition there were several other classrooms, a post office, a commuters room, and faculty offices.


Allen, Ely, and Brewster Houses
The first dormitories on the Hillwood Lakes campus—Allen House, Ely House, and Brewster House—were completed and occupied in September 1931. One hundred and forty freshman women in the three-year elementary, three-year kindergarten-primary, and the four-year secondary curriculum, were the first students to live on campus. The building consisted of three sections connected by covered porches. The large social room in the center of the building provided ample facilities for teas, concerts, and gatherings.


Centennial Hall
In December 1954 the State Board of Education named the new womens dormitory “Centennial Hall,” since it opened during the 100-year anniversary of the College in 1955. Centennial was the first permanent structure to be constructed since the completion of Norsworthy Hall in 1936.

 



Phelps Hall
In 1955 William F. Phelps Hall opened, and was named in honor of the first principal of the Normal School. The building contained faculty and student dining rooms, the College bookstore, and student services. Phelps Hall was demolished to make room for Community Commons (later renamed Eickoff Hall).


The Pub
On November 29, 1971, TSC students welcomed the Pub, formerly the Rhodora Theatre, as it opened its doors in Phelps Hall. The Pub offered students a place to talk, meet people, enjoy music or live entertainment, and relax.


Student Center
The 1976 opening of the Student Center brought together student activities and services that were formerly scattered throughout the campus. The 97,000-square-foot facility became a total service center for students. In addition to office space for student organizations, the Student Center housed snack bar facilities, a bank, college store, conference rooms, a lounge, and the Rathskellar. In 1981, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the renaming of the center after College President Emeritus Clayton R. Brower, who retired in 1980.


Recent Construction
The campus has been under continual improvement over the past two decades. In 1985, Packer Hall-one of the Ewing campus's original buildings-was renovated and expanded. These days it includes a 25-meter swimming and diving pool, a Physical Enhancement Center , and a weight room for varsity student-athletes. New Residence Hall also opened in 1985.

The early 1990s saw the completion of Community Commons (later renamed Eickhoff Hall), which replaced Phelps Hall and combined student residence space with offices for student services. The construction of three Townhouses, which took place throughout the 1990s, added housing for upper-class students. In 1993, a new Music Building containing a 300-seat Concert Hall was opened. Paul Loser Hall, the College's reception facility and home to the School of Nursing , was completed in 1997. Then in 1999, the School of Business Building opened its doors.

As the century changed, The College continued its push to provide the best possible academic, residential, and recreational facilities. The Biology Building , a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility, was completed in 2000. The following year marked the opening of the Social Sciences Building, home to several departmental offices, clinical research labs, and conference and seminar rooms.

During the summer of 2001, the College unveiled a $250 million facilities master plan, which provided the conceptual framework for the continued development of the campus over the next 10 years. The newly opened Science Complex, part of the first phase the master plan, includes a planetarium, laboratories, and offices. Three new Student Apartment buildings, each of which will house 200 students, are currently under construction and scheduled for completion by 2006. A new Spiritual Center, which replaces the Alumni Meditation Chapel, has gone up between Norsworthy and Decker Halls. On the site of the former chapel, construction on a new library is under way. The library is scheduled to open by fall 2005, and will feature a 24-hour café/study area and a 100-seat auditorium.

Enrollment
1900 645
1910 534
1920 448
1930 680
1940 764
1950 921
1960 1,619
1970 5,200
1980 8,600
1990 5,986
1999 5,930

*In place of paying tuition, the College's first students signed a form agreeing to teach in a state school upon their graduation. Also, the College owned no dormitories at the time and therefore charged no room and board fee. Students were responsible for finding their own lodging.

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