A major building program in the early 20th century was initiated by President Woodrow Wilson (1901-1912) and overseen by Ralph Adams Cram, supervising architect. In addition to new buildings, Lake Carnegie was created and the railroad (Dinky) station was relocated to the south. Princeton was one of the first universities to undertake a master plan for its future growth. Wilson and Cram shared a vision for the campus that shifted away from the McCosh era's outward-looking and expansive landscape to a more enclosed arrangement of buildings, influenced by the architecture and scholarly seclusion of Oxford and Cambridge and emphasizing academic discourse among faculty and students.

The Princeton Borough and Township settlements continued to grow, with new residential areas developing west of the golf course and east of FitzRandolph Road. As the Dinky station moved south, many residential properties along Alexander Street were transformed for industrial and warehouse uses dependent on rail transportation.