The history of college campuses in the United States begins in 1636 with the founding of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then known as New Towne. Early colonial colleges, which included not only Harvard, but also College of William & Mary, Yale University and The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), were modeled after equivalent English and Scottish institutions, but American establishments gradually split with their forebears, both physically and academically.
The earliest American colleges and universities were all affiliated with different Christian denominations; Brown, for example, was founded by Baptists, while the Columbia University (then King's College) was founded by the Church of England. These religious affiliations colored the architectural texture and geographical placement of early colleges, with emphasis placed on the construction of religious facilities, and a desire for colleges to be rural, so as to avoid the vices anecdotally associated with large towns and cities.
As colleges developed and increased in number, many strayed from their religious affiliations, or were founded without one. Architecturally, colleges also diversified, with different philosophies of campus planning emerging. Perhaps the most enduring style to be produced on American campuses is Collegiate Gothic, but there are diverse vernacular and local styles, such as the Arts and Crafts campus at Principia College designed by Bernard Maybeck and the Cherokee Gothic buildings at the University of Oklahoma.