Location

First part of eventual site acquired in 1892; Broadway to Amsterdam, 120th to 116th Street; had been part the Bloomingdale Estate, used as campus for an asylum. Bloomingdale Asylum consisted of 17 ½ acres of land (777' x 950') , extending from 120th Street on the north to 116th Street on the south, and from Broadway on the west to what is now Amsterdam Avenue on the east. 16.85 acres. Purchase price: $2,000,000. Asylum property between 116th and 114th Street ("South Field") acquired in 1903. 8.25 acres. Property east of Amsterdam, between 116th and 119th ("East Field/Campus") acquired between 1910 and 1914. 2.08 acres.

Campus officially opened on October 4, 1897, when only Low Library was completed. One building on the site (Bloomingdale Asylum building) retained for use by the University. Located directly east of Low Library steps. Renamed Lawrence Buell Hall in 19xx.