Joseph Henry House

Last updated

Joseph Henry House
Joseph Henry House-072.jpg
Location map of Mercer County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
USA New Jersey location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationPrinceton University campus, Princeton, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°20′57.73″N74°39′31.96″W / 40.3493694°N 74.6588778°W / 40.3493694; -74.6588778
Arealess than one acre
Built1836 (1836)
Part of Princeton Historic District (ID75001143)
NRHP reference No. 66000464
NJRHP No.1735 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [2]
Designated NHLJanuary 12, 1965
Designated NJRHPMay 27, 1971

The Joseph Henry House is a historic building located on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Joseph Henry, a prominent American physicist who worked in electromagnetics, designed the house in 1836 and lived there from its completion in 1838 until taking a position as the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1848. [3] [4] The construction of the house was offered to the young physicist as part of the University's attempt to hire him away from the Albany Academy in an attempt to raise Princeton's profile. [5] After Henry's departure, the house served as the official housing of the Dean of the College, the University's senior undergraduate academic officer, from 1909 to 1961.

Contents

The Henry house has been moved repeatedly throughout its history, first in 1870 to a site behind East College, again in 1925 to the corner of Washington Road and Nassau Street to accommodate the construction of the Princeton University Chapel, and finally in 1946 to its present location. [4] The Henry house now stands along the northern edge of the University's campus adjacent to Chancellor Green and serves the home of Princeton's Adlinger Center for the Humanities. [6] The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. [7] [8]

The house is a 2+12-story brick building with a gabled roof. It has an asymmetrical five-bay facade, with a single-story open porch extending across the front and single-story wings extending to the sides. The roof is pierced by several irregularly placed chimneys. The main entrance is roughly centered on the facade, with a three-light transom window above. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<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">Morven (Princeton, New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

Morven, known officially as Morven Museum & Garden, is a historic 18th-century house at 55 Stockton Street in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It served as the governor's mansion for nearly four decades in the twentieth century, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark for its association with Richard Stockton (1730-1781), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn College for Women</span> Womens college in Princeton, New Jersey (1887–1897)

Evelyn College for Women, often shortened to Evelyn College, was the coordinate women's college of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey between 1887 and 1897. It was the first women's college in the State of New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dillon Gymnasium</span>

Dillon Gymnasium is an on-campus multi-purpose athletic facility on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It was built in 1947 to replace University Gymnasium, which had burned to the ground in 1944. It houses a 1,500-seat gymnasium, squash courts and a pool.

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

Westland Mansion was the home of Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, from his retirement in 1897 until his death in 1908. The house is located in the historic district of Princeton, New Jersey, and is a National Historic Landmark also known as the Grover Cleveland Home.

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

Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, was founded in 1766 during the American colonial period as Queen's College. Queen's College was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke who became the queen consort of British king George III. Old Queens is located on a six-acre hilltop city block bounded by Somerset Street, Hamilton Street, College Avenue and George Street that was previously an apple orchard. Donated to the college in 1807 by James Parker, Jr., this city block become known the Queen's Campus and is the historic core of the university. Because of this, by metonymy, the name "Old Queens" came to be used as a reference to Rutgers College and is often invoked as an allusive reference to the university or to its administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Hall (Brown University)</span> United States historic place

University Hall is the first and oldest building on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Built in 1770, the building is one of only seven extant college buildings built prior to the American Revolution. According to architectural historian Bryant F. Tolles Jr., the structure is "one of the genuine icons of early American collegiate architecture."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Einstein House</span> United States historic place

The Albert Einstein House at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States was the home of Albert Einstein from 1935 until his death in 1955. His second wife Elsa Einstein died in 1936 while living in this house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Wisconsin Science Hall</span> United States historic place

University of Wisconsin Science Hall is a building on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It is significant for its association with Charles R. Van Hise, "who led the Department of Mineralogy and Geology to national prominence" and then served as president of the university. The building was constructed in 1888. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Hall (New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

Liberty Hall, also known as the Governor William Livingston House, located on Morris Avenue in Union, Union County, New Jersey, United States, is a historic home where many leading influential people lived. It was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1938. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark on November 28, 1972, for its significance in politics and government. It is now the Liberty Hall Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maybury Hill</span> Historic house in New Jersey, United States

Maybury Hill is a historic house at 346 Snowden Lane, in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Built about 1725, it was the birthplace and boyhood home of Joseph Hewes (1730-1799), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The house, an architecturally excellent example of Georgian domestic architecture, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its association with Hewes. It is a private residence not open to the public.

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

Prospect House, known also as just Prospect, is a historic house on the Princeton University campus in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1851, it is a fine example of the work of architect John Notman who helped popularize Italianate architecture in America. Notable residents include Woodrow Wilson during his tenure as president of the university. The building now serves as a faculty club. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 for its architecture and historic associations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Trent House</span> United States historic place

The William Trent House is a historic building located at 15 Market Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. It was built in 1719 for William Trent and is the oldest building in Trenton. He founded the eponymous town, which became the capital of New Jersey. It has served as the residence for three Governors. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970, for its significance as an example of Early Georgian Colonial architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shadow Lawn (New Jersey)</span> Historic house in New Jersey, United States

Shadow Lawn is a historic building on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Built in 1927 for Hubert T. Parson, president of the F.W. Woolworth Company, it is one of the last large estate houses to be built before the Great Depression. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 for its architecture.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey</span>

List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church Rectory and School</span> Historic church in New Jersey, United States

St. Joseph Plaza is an event venue in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, which formerly served St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, a parish of the Archdiocese of Newark of the Roman Catholic Church. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1980, for its significance in architecture and religion.

<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">King's Highway Historic District (New Jersey)</span> Historic district in New Jersey, United States

The King's Highway Historic District covers the portions of U.S. Route 206 and New Jersey Route 27 in New Jersey that connect Lawrenceville with Kingston through Princeton. This historic roadway dates to colonial times and was a portion of the King's Highway that was laid out by order of Charles II of England to connect Boston with Charleston. It is lined with many institutions and sites that have played an important role in the History of the United States, including Princeton University and the Princeton Theological Seminary.

References

  1. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places — Mercer County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection — Historic Preservation Office. April 5, 2013. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. "Joseph Henry House" in Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion (1978).
  4. 1 2 Princeton Campus Building Profile
  5. ""Joseph Henry" in Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion (1978)". Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  6. Council of the Humanities
  7. National Historic Landmarks Program Archived 2009-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Historical Marker Database
  9. "NHL nomination for Joseph Henry House". National Park Service. Retrieved April 15, 2020.