Nassau Inn

Last updated
Nassau Inn
Nassau Inn Logo.jpg
Nassau Inn.jpg
The Nassau Inn
Nassau Inn
General information
CountryUnited States
RenovatedDecember 2012;11 years ago (2012-12)
Demolished1937;87 years ago (1937) (original)
Technical details
Floor count6
Other information
Number of rooms188
Number of restaurants1
Facilities14 Meeting rooms, 10,000 square feet (930 m2)
ParkingHulfish Garage and Chamber Street Garage
Nassau Inn
Location map of Mercer County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
Location10 Palmer Square, Princeton, NJ
Coordinates 40°21′01.8″N74°39′40.2″W / 40.350500°N 74.661167°W / 40.350500; -74.661167
BuiltOriginal 1756
Current location 1938
Part of Princeton Historic District (ID75001143 [1] )
Designated CP27 June 1975

The Nassau Inn is a full-service hotel in downtown Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It first opened at 52 Nassau Street in 1769 in a home built in 1756. The Inn experienced British occupation during the American Revolution and played host to members of the Continental Congress when it met in nearby Nassau Hall. In 1937, the original inn was demolished to make way for the Palmer Square development and a new, larger, inn opened at 10 Palmer Square in 1938. The hotel's restaurant, the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, has a large mural by Norman Rockwell, depicting Yankee Doodle, behind the bar. It is within walking distance of Princeton University.

Contents

History

The Nassau Inn (original location) in 1937, showing the west wing, built 1756, and part of the east wing, Mansion house, built 1846 by Charles Steadman Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer May 25, 1937 EXTERIOR - SOUTH ELEVATION - Nassau Inn, Princeton, Mercer County, NJ HABS NJ,11-PRINT,8-1.tif
The Nassau Inn (original location) in 1937, showing the west wing, built 1756, and part of the east wing, Mansion house, built 1846 by Charles Steadman

Colonial

The inn's first building, constructed in 1756 using brick imported from Holland, was built as the home of Judge Thomas Leonard, an eminent local citizen who had helped woo The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) to relocate to Princeton. [2] On his death in 1769, the house was turned into a hotel by Christopher Beekman, who gave it the name College Inn. The Inn quickly became the center of town life, and with its location on the King's Highway, at the midpoint between New York City and Philadelphia, played host to many of the notable figures of colonial America, including Paul Revere, Robert Morris, and Thomas Paine. [3]

The Inn experienced the vicissitudes of the American Revolution, with the British occupation of Princeton in 1776 followed by George Washington's victory at the Battle of Princeton. In 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall, with many Founding Fathers staying in the Inn. Hageman's 1879 history of Princeton relates that Mayor Morford of Princeton insisted that the assembly had met in the Inn, with its ballroom serving as the Court of Chancery. [4]

Nineteenth Century

Christopher and Grace Beekman retired as proprietors of the Inn around the turn of the 19th century. John Gifford took over management of the hotel, renaming it the Nassau Inn, sometimes Nassau Hotel, and hanging a sign depicting Nassau Hall at the entrance. In 1846, a new building, known as Mansion House, was built by noted local builder/architect Charles Steadman on the east side of the original structure, which then became known as the west wing. In the 1880s the two buildings were combined. [5]

Palmer Square

The Yankee Doodle Tap Room inside the inn, with a Norman Rockwell mural behind the bar MASSAU INN, PRINCETON, MERCER COUNTY, NJ.jpg
The Yankee Doodle Tap Room inside the inn, with a Norman Rockwell mural behind the bar

In the 1930s Edgar Palmer, a major donor to Princeton University and leading figure in the town, desired to bring an urban redevelopment to Princeton similar in concept, if not scale, to Rockefeller Center in New York. This led to the 1936–1939 creation of Palmer Square, a public square and planned development that combines stores, restaurants, and apartments, with a post office and a new building for the Nassau Inn. [6] The original buildings of the Inn were demolished; their former site is now Tiger Park, with a tiger statue commemorating Edger Palmer, standing opposite Nassau Presbyterian Church. The new Inn was built facing the square and has itself come to be considered historic with its fine interiors and Norman Rockwell mural in the Yankee Doodle Tap Room. [7]

The Inn underwent a 120-bed expansion in 1985, such that the hotel spans Palmer Square East. [8]

Amenities

The hotel has 188 guest rooms, and 14 banquet rooms, with over 10,000 square feet (930 m2) in meeting space. Approximately 120,000 guests check in each year. [9] Its close proximity to Princeton University helps to maintain high occupancy rates at the inn. [10] [11] The hotel allows pets, with a cleaning fee. It is a popular wedding venue, with an outdoor patio available for ceremonies. The restaurant, the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the bar and lounge area has a fireplace. Parking is available in the nearby Hulfish or Chambers Street garages. [12]


The Nassau Inn is frequently mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel This Side of Paradise when the protagonist Amory Blaine attends Princeton University.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton University</span> Private university in Princeton, New Jersey, US

Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. The institution moved to Newark in 1747, and then to its current campus, nine years later. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nassau Hall</span> United States historic place

Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built in 1756, Nassau Hall was the largest building in colonial New Jersey and the largest academic building in the American colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Cottage Club</span> United States historic place

The University Cottage Club or simply Cottage Club is one of eleven current eating clubs at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is one of the six bicker clubs, along with The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, Cap and Gown Club, Cannon Club and Tower Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer Square</span> United States historic place

Palmer Square is a public square and planned development in the heart of Princeton, New Jersey across from Nassau Street and Princeton University that today forms a collection of shops, restaurants, offices and residential spaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Park, New Jersey</span> Populated place in Somerset County, New Jersey, US

Franklin Park is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 13,295. Route 27 bisects the village and serves as the dividing line between the two counties. The adjacent sections of South Brunswick and North Brunswick, Middlesex County on the east side of Route 27 are also known as Franklin Park, but are not included within the CDP's boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Battle Monument</span>

The Princeton Battle Monument is located in Princeton, New Jersey, adjacent to Morven and Princeton's borough hall. The monument commemorates the January 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton and depicts General George Washington leading his troops to victory and the death of General Hugh Mercer. It stands 50 feet (15 m) tall and was inspired by carvings on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Designed to visually anchor the western end of Nassau Street, the monument and its park are a legacy of the City Beautiful movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Battlefield</span> United States historic place

The Princeton Battlefield in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, is where American and British troops fought each other on January 3, 1777, in the Battle of Princeton during the American Revolutionary War. The battle ended when the British soldiers in Nassau Hall surrendered. This success, following those at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, and the Battle of the Assunpink Creek the day before, helped improve American morale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's House (Princeton University)</span> United States historic place

The President's House, also known as the John Maclean House, or simply the Maclean House, in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, was built to serve as the home of the President of the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. It was completed in 1756, the same year as Nassau Hall. United States Founding Father John Witherspoon lived here from 1768 through 1779, during which time he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. George Washington occupied Maclean House in January 1777, during the Battle of Princeton and in 1783 while Congress met in Nassau Hall.

Lucius Horatio Stockton was an American lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1798 to 1801. His rise to this position was relatively swift: he was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1791; he became counsellor in 1794; and in April 1797, he was appointed sergeant-at-law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5 Beekman Street</span> Building in Manhattan, New York

5 Beekman Street is a building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is composed of the 10-story, 150-foot-tall (46 m) Temple Court Building and Annex and a connected 51-story, 687-foot-tall (209 m) condominium tower called the Beekman Residences, which contains 68 residential units. The 287-unit The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel, also known as The Beekman Hotel, occupies all three structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princeton Historic District (Princeton, New Jersey)</span> Historic district in New Jersey, United States

The Princeton Historic District is a 370-acre (150 ha) historic district located in Princeton, New Jersey that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It stretches from Marquand Park in the west to the Eating Clubs in the East, from the Princeton Cemetery in the north to the Graduate College in the south. The district encompasses the core parts of the campuses of the Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University. It also includes the business district centered on Nassau Street and many historic homes, both mansions in the western section and more humble dwellings in the Witherspoon/Jackson neighborhood. Notable churches within the district include Nassau Presbyterian Church, Trinity Episcopal, Nassau Christian Center, and the Princeton University Chapel. The district is home to seven of Princeton's nine, and New Jersey's fifty-eight, National Historic Landmarks, the largest concentration of such sites in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General John Frelinghuysen House</span> Historic house in New Jersey, United States

The General John Frelinghuysen House is a historic building located in Raritan, New Jersey. The older west wing was originally a tavern, built sometime before 1756 by Cornelius Bogert, when it also served as the town's meeting hall. It was bought in 1801 by John Frelinghuysen and then came to be known as the Frelinghuysen Homestead. It is an excellent example of early 19th century Federal architecture in New Jersey. In 1975, it was donated by Peter Frelinghuysen, Jr. to the borough and now serves as the Raritan Public Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedar Grove, Mercer County, New Jersey</span> Populated place in Mercer County, New Jersey, US

Cedar Grove is an unincorporated community located within Princeton in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was a village with a church, blacksmith, and schoolhouse. It is located on the brow of a hill along Great Road from Princeton to Blawenburg. The Cedar Grove area was settled by French families of some prominence who were Huguenot refugees, including Louis and Maria Tulane, to whom Paul Tulane, philanthropist and founder of Tulane University, was born in 1801. The suburbanization of Princeton Township in the second half of the 20th century led to a loss of Cedar Grove's place as a distinctive settlement, though some older buildings are still extant. As the main route of Great Road has been relocated to a bypass to the east, the area is much less traveled. Most of the area's land is owned by the Tenacre Foundation, a Christian Science care and nursing facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nassau Christian Center</span> Church in New Jersey, United States

The Nassau Christian Center is an Assemblies of God church in Princeton, New Jersey located at 26 Nassau Street. It is housed in an historic church building built in 1868 that was once home to Princeton's Second Presbyterian Church, later known as St. Andrew's Presbyterian. The Christian Center was founded in 1978 and leased, purchasing in 1980, the then empty building from Nassau Presbyterian Church, which had been formed by the merger of Second Presbyterian with First Presbyterian of Princeton in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peacock Inn (Princeton, New Jersey)</span> Restaurant

The Peacock Inn is a historic restaurant and inn in Princeton, New Jersey. The building itself dates to the 18th century and was originally located at the corner of Nassau Street and University Place. During the American Revolution it was the home of Jonathan Deare, and played host to members of the Continental Congress when they met in nearby Nassau Hall. It was moved to its current location in 1875 by famed archaeologist and Olympic athlete William Libbey. Joseph and Helen O'Conner purchased the property in 1911 and opened the Peacock Inn, naming it after an inn in Derbyshire, England. The Inn has 16 guest rooms but is most known for its restaurant, consistently rated one of the finest in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Lowrie House (Princeton, New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

The Walter Lowrie House is located at 83 Stockton Street in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, and is the official residence of the president of Princeton University. The mansion was built in 1845 by Commodore Robert F. Stockton for his son John P. Stockton, both senators from New Jersey. Prior to being a senator the younger Stockton had served as the Attorney General of New Jersey and later as ambassador to Italy. Commodore Stockton was the son of Richard Stockton, another New Jersey Senator, and grandson of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The latter Richard Stockton built Morven in the 18th century, which sits a short distance up Stockton Street. His grandfather's home, known as the "Barracks" is found at 32 Edgehill Street, the street which fronts the gate to the Walter Lowrie House property. It was built in the 17th century and gained its name from having served as a barracks in either the French and Indian War or the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nassau Club</span>

The Nassau Club of Princeton, New Jersey, founded in 1889 by, among others, Woodrow Wilson as a town-and-gown club to bring the townspeople and the University faculty together, is now a private social club. It moved into its current location in 1903. The clubhouse was originally built in 1813-14 as the home of Samuel Miller, the second professor of the Princeton Theological Seminary, on land belonging to his father-in-law, Continental Congressman Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant. Sergeant had built a large house on the site shortly before the American Revolution but it was burned down during the British occupation prior to the Battle of Princeton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beekman Arms Inn</span> Building in Rhinebeck, New York

The Beekman Arms Inn—formerly known as the Traphagen Tavern, Bogardus Tavern and Potter’s Tavern, and currently known as the Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn—is a historic inn located in the village of Rhinebeck, New York. It is within the Rhinebeck Village Historic District, a historic district added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as a cohesive area of preserved historic buildings. In 2022 the Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn has also been a member of Historic Hotels of America, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, since 2006. The inn claims to be America's oldest continuously operated hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morse Building</span> Residential building in Manhattan, New York

The Morse Building, also known as the Nassau–Beekman Building and 140 Nassau Street, is a residential building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City, at the northeast corner of Nassau and Beekman Streets. The Morse Building, designed by Benjamin Silliman Jr. and James M. Farnsworth, contains elements of the Victorian Gothic, Neo-Grec, and Rundbogenstil style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Hotels of America</span> National Trust for Historic Preservation program

Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.

References

  1. "Princeton Historic District". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. Hageman, John Frelinghuysen (1879). History of Princeton and Its Institutions, Volume 1. J.B. Lippincott & Company. p.  42. Nassau hotel.
  3. "Our History". Nassau Inn.
  4. Hageman, John Frelinghuysen (1879). History of Princeton and Its Institutions, Volume 1. J.B. Lippincott & Company. p.  168. Nassau hotel.
  5. "Men in costume walk down Nassau Street, in front of the old Nassau Inn". Princeton Historical Society.
  6. "Princeton's Historic Sites and People". Princeton Historical Society.
  7. Gilbert, Ellen (July 2, 2008). "Historical Society Sponsors Tour that Imagines Princeton in the 1930s". The Town Topics.
  8. "Nassau Inn Addition Tops-Out". The Town Topics. May 8, 1985.
  9. "Nassau Inn preparing for expansion". The Daily Princetonian. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  10. "Report: University has big local economic effect". The Daily Princetonian. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  11. "Nassau Inn given permission to expand". The Daily Princetonian. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  12. "Fact Sheet" (PDF). Nassau Inn.