The campus of Stony Brook University is located in Stony Brook, New York, and consists of 213 buildings over 1,454 acres of land. It is the largest public university in the state of New York in terms of land area. The campus was moved to Stony Brook in 1962 after originating in Oyster Bay, New York.
The campus is divided into numerous sections, with County Route 97 (Nicolls Road) dividing the university's West and East campuses. The West Campus, centered around the Academic Mall, includes many of the university's academic buildings, student dormitories and athletic facilities. The East Campus is centered around the Stony Brook University Hospital and other medical-related buildings such as the Health Sciences Center. Additional areas such as the university's Research and Development Park and its Southampton campus were acquired in the 2000s. The campus is bordered to the north and west by New York State Route 25A.
It is accessible via public transportation, with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) operating the Stony Brook station of the Long Island Rail Road on campus. In addition to campus transportation provided by the university, the Suffolk County Transit bus also provides connection from the university to off-campus locations.
History
Stony Brook University was founded in 1957 as the State University College of Long Island and was located in Oyster Bay, New York, before moving to Stony Brook in 1962. Businessman and philanthropist Ward Melville donated 482 acres of land to the Three Village area for a college campus that he envisioned as "Old World" and "pastoral".
The 2000s saw the campus expand with the acquisition of 246 acres of land adjacent to the university from the Gyrodyne Company of America; this area would be developed into the Stony Brook University Research and Development Park. In 2006, the university purchased an 81-acre plot of land formerly belonging to Southampton College and developed it into an additional campus 35 miles away from Stony Brook known as Stony Brook Southampton.
West Campus
The West Campus of Stony Brook University is centered around the Academic Mall and includes many of the university's academic buildings, student dormitories and athletic facilities. The Academic Mall is described as "the heart of campus" and is where some of the university's most prominent structures are located near.
Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library
The Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library is the main library at Stony Brook University's West Campus. It opened in 1963 and was soon expanded, more than quadrupling in size by 1971, when the building was dedicated to Frank Melville Jr., the father of Ward Melville. It is located toward the eastern end of the Academic Mall and houses over two million volumes, ranging from government documents to music and film collections. The building is six stories tall and the entire structure encompasses approximately 682,000 square feet of space. It is in use by over fifty different administrative and academic departments. The Melville Library is also home to retail stores such as Shop Red West, a university bookstore, a Starbucks coffee shop, Amazon@Stony Brook (the first Amazon pickup location in the state of New York) and FedEx.
Stony Brook Union
The Stony Brook Union is the main student union on campus, located on John S. Toll Drive. It opened in 1970 as the first building on campus dedicated specifically for student life. In the past, the building was known as the "living room of the campus" and home to facilities including a bowling alley, post office, bookstore and campus dining. It used to be the home of Stony Brook's college radio station WUSB as well as University Café, the last-standing bar on campus. The building closed in 2016 before undergoing a three-year, $63.4 million renovation, reopening in 2020. The new Union building is three stories tall, takes up 170,000 square feet and bears modernist and neoclassical architectural styles, with brick, stone, metal and glass finishes. It currently serves over 40 different student and faculty organizations.