RIT Married Student Housing collection

Although RIT can trace its origins back to the founding of the Rochester Athenaeum in 1829, the modern form of the institution was created in 1891 when the Rochester Athenaeum merged with the newly formed Mechanics Institute (founded 1885). The university started as a way to train individuals for careers in the dominant fields in Rochester, NY's manufacturing industry. As a result, most of the school's first students were local residents. However, as the school began to grow, an increasing number of students came from areas other than the city, creating a need for student housing.

In 1968, the campus was relocated from the city of Rochester to the suburb of Henrietta. Because of demand for on campus housing for married students and staff, two new apartment buildings were built to fill this need: Perkins Green and Riverknoll. Perkins Green, on the eastern end of campus, contained 120 residential apartments. Riverknoll, on the western end, contained 275 apartments and townhouses.

Both complexes are still in use today. Although the majority of apartment residents are now undergraduates, a mixture of graduate and undergraduate, single and married students can be found in each apartment complex.