Name
Changes
|
1855
|
New
Jersey State Normal School |
1908
|
New
Jersey State Normal School in Trenton |
1929
|
New
Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal
School at Trenton |
1937
|
New
Jersey State Teachers College at Trenton |
1958
|
Trenton
State College |
1996
|
The College
of New Jersey |
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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