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PRINCETON BATTLEFIELD STATE PARK
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PRINCETON FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE AND CEMETERY
Richard Stockton Gravesite
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OLDEN HOUSE
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THE BARRACKS
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The Barracks
32 Edgehill Rd.
(Private Home)
Map / Directions to the Barracks
Map / Directions to all Princeton Revolutionary War Sites
This house is a private residence.
Please respect the privacy and property of the owners.
The house was used as a barracks during the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War. [5]
Thomas Lawrence, the
owner of the Barracks in 1783, hosted James Madison and
Alexander Hamilton, while the Continental Congress met in Princeton. [6]
There is a legend that this house is haunted by a "Hessian Ghost." Click here to read a Princeton newspaper article about the house and the ghost. [7] |
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MORVEN
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Morven
55 Stockton St. (Rt. 206)
Map / Directions to Morven
Map / Directions to all Princeton Revolutionary War Sites Morven Website
(609) 924-8144
Hours:
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:
11 a.m. – 3 p.m
Tours at 11:15, 12:15, 1:15 and 2:15
Saturday and Sunday:
12 Noon – 4 p.m.
Tours at 12:15, 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15
Closed on Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day,
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. |
Admission:
Adults $6
Seniors (60 & older)/Students $5
Friends of Morven FREE
Strollers not permitted in museum.
Group tours of 10 or more available ANY day by advance reservation.
Call (609) 924-8144 x106 |
Morven was the home of Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton.
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PRINCETON BATTLE MONUMENT
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Princeton Battle Monument
Stockton St. (Rt. 206) at Nassau St. (Rt. 27)
Map / Directions to the Princeton Battle Monument
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This monument commemorates the January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton. It depicts Liberty inspiring General Washington as he leads his troops into battle, and the death of General Hugh Mercer. The seals of the United States and the original thirteen states appear on the sides of the Monument. The Monument was commissioned in 1908, and was designed by the Beaux Arts sculptor Frederick MacMonnies with the assistance of architect Thomas Hastings. President Warren G. Harding attended the 1922 dedication. [8]
The inscription on the back was composed by Andrew Fleming West:
Here memory lingers to recall the guiding mind whose daring plan outflanked the foe and turned dismay to hope when Washington with swift resolve marched through the night to fight at dawn and venture all in one victorious battle for our freedom. [9]
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Nassau Hall
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Nassau Hall
Princeton University at Nassau St.
Map / Directions to Princeton University
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(609) 258-3603
Tours Available:
Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m., 11a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Sunday 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
During the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777, Nassau Hall exchanged hands three times during the battle, initially being occupied by the British, only to be surrendered to General Washington's troops, who had belted the structure with artillery. A scar left from an American cannonball on the south side of the west wing is still visible. The British and American troops who were quartered at Nassau Hall caused great damage. Nassau Hall served as a barracks, hospital, and military prison.
Nassau Hall served as the national capitol when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia in 1783. Congress met in the library on the second floor and in the prayer hall on the first floor from June to November 1783. It was in Nassau Hall that Congress received the news that Great Britain had signed Treaty of Paris, ending the war. During its stay at Nassau Hall, Congress also recognized George Washington's leadership during the war, and received its first foreign minister, from the Netherlands. [10] |
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
MacLean House
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MacLean House
Princeton University at Nassau St.
Map / Directions to Princeton University
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The McLean house was erected in 1756., The two story, brick structure served as the official residence of Princeton's president until 1879.Declaration of Independence signer John Witherspoon lived at this house from 1768 to 1779 while he has the president of Princeton.[11]
Some of the plant life at McLean House is of interesting Revolutionary War era significance. In front of the house are two trees know as the "Stamp Act Sycamores". According to legend they were planted in commemoration of the Stamp Act's repeal in 1766. [12] Behind the house are English Boxwood plants that were grown from George Washington's hedges planted in November 1798 at Mount Vernon. [13]
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According to the Princeton University website: [14]
"George Washington at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777" was painted by Charles Willson Peale, one of the most famous early American artists, in 1784. This portrait is distinct because it is one of only a few Washington sat for during his lifetime. The College paid Peale's fee with a 50-guinea gift that Washington had presented as a mark of his esteem and to pay for war damages to Nassau Hall.
"In the background of the portrait, beneath Washington's upraised sword arm, stands Nassau Hall as it appeared from the south in 1777. The scene suggested is the closing phase of the battle: the British retreat toward the building, following a red flag; the American army advances, led by a blue banner. At Washington's feet lies General Hugh Mercer, the namesake of New Jersey's Mercer County, who was mortally wounded during the fighting. Behind Washington is a surgeon and another officer bearing an American flag.
"Portrait information: Charles Willson Peale, American, 1741-1827. Oil on canvas; 237.0 x 144.5 cm. Princeton University, commissioned by the Trustees." |
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
John Witherspoon Statue
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John Witherspoon Statue
Princeton University at Nassau St.
Map / Directions to Princeton University
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John Witherspoon was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the President of Princeton University.
There are three plaques on the base of the statue, detailing the life of John Witherspoon, including one that relates his role as a patriot. The text of that plaque reads: [15]
" 'He is as high a Son of Liberty as any Man in America' - John Adams 1774
"Witherspoon embraced America from his arrival in Philadelphia and his warm reception in Princeton. As relations with Great Britain became strained, he tolerated the growing student unrest at the College and was patient with demonstrations favoring Independence even before he became an advocate from the pulpit.
"With eight other men he formed the Somerset County Committee of Correspondence in 1774and he was elected to the New Jersey Provincial Congress. In June 1776, he was chosen as one of New Jersey delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He became one of the most forceful proponents of the Declaration of Independence, the only minister and the only college president among the fifty-six signers. He signed the Articles of Confederation and was selected in 1787 to attend the New Jersey ratifying convention for the Constitution."
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Bainbridge House is one of the oldest surviving Princeton buildings still located on its original foundation. The house was built in 1766 by Job Stockton, a prosperous tanner, and a cousin of Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton.
Absalom Bainbridge leased the house in 1774. Absalom was a Tory, who fled Princeton for New York in 1777.
The Bainbridge House served as accommodations for the Continental Congress in when it met in Princeton in 1783.
Absalom Bainbridge's son William , who was born in the house on May 7, 1774, went on to become a Commodore in the U.S. Navy, and commanded the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides"). He emerged as a hero of the War of 1812. [16] |
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Sources:
1. ^
2. ^
3. ^ Historic sign on the Washington's Spring Monument
4. ^ State of New Jersey historic sign
5. ^ Jamie Saxon, "Ghosts & Company: No Full Moon Required", US1, October 27, 2010.
6. ^ A Walk Through
1783 Princeton brochure, Presented By The
Historical Society Of
Princeton
7. ^ Jamie Saxon, "Ghosts & Company: No Full Moon Required", US1, October 27, 2010.
8. ^ Plaque at the sight of the Princeton Battlefield Monument
9. ^ Inscription text from the back of the monument, Alexander Fleming West attribution from plaque at the sight of the Princeton Battlefield Monument
10. ^ Tad Bennicoff, A Brief History of Nassau Hall, 2003
11. ^ National Park Service - National Historic Trust program
12. ^ J. I. Merrit '66 The Trees of Princeton University - An Arboreal Tour of the Campus brochure. Page 3. Available as a PDF here
13. ^ Stone marker behind MacLean House
14. ^ Princeton University website
15. ^ "Patriot" plaque on the base of the statue. A small plaque on the back of the base details the information about the statue: "The statue was dedicated on November 10, 2001. It was made in Paisley, Scotland, by Alexander Stoddart and is a duplicate casting of a statue dedicated in Paisley on June 22, 2001. The work was cast at the Morris Singer Foundry in Basingstoke, England. The architect for the plinth was T. Jeffery Clarke AIA of Princeton, New Jersey."
16. ^ Historical Society of Princeton website
17. ^ State of New Jersey historic sign
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