Joseph Henry House
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The Joseph Henry House is a historic building located on the campus of
Princeton University Princeton University is a private 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 ...
in
Princeton Princeton University is a private 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 nin ...
, Mercer County,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
, United States.
Joseph Henry Joseph Henry (December 17, 1797– May 13, 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smit ...
, a prominent American
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
who worked in
electromagnetics In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions o ...
, 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 The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...
in 1848.Princeton Campus Building Profile
/ref> 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. 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. 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 The Princeton University Chapel is located on that university's main campus in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It replaces an older chapel that burned down in 1920. Designed in 1921 by Ralph Adams Cram in his signature Collegiate Gothic styl ...
, and finally in 1946 to its present location. 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. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.Historical Marker Database
/ref> The house is a -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.


See also

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List of National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey This is a List of National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey and other landmarks of equivalent landmark status in the state. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, an ...
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey __NOTOC__ This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jerse ...


References


External links


Princeton University: Joseph Henry House
{{NRHP in Mercer County, New Jersey Houses completed in 1838 Houses in Princeton, New Jersey National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey Princeton University buildings New Jersey Register of Historic Places Historic district contributing properties in Mercer County, New Jersey