The Nassau Inn is a full-service hotel in downtown

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, 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 The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and played host to members of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

when it met in nearby

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. ...

. In 1937, the original inn was demolished to make way for the

Palmer Square 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. Originally bu ...

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 Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

, depicting

Yankee Doodle "Yankee Doodle" is a traditional song and nursery rhyme, the early versions of which predate the Seven Years' War and American Revolutionary War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today. It is the state song of the U.S. ...

, behind the bar. It is within walking distance of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

History

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

) to relocate to Princeton. 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, played host to many of the notable figures of

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

, including

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

, Robert Morris, and

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

. The Inn experienced the vicissitudes of the

, with the British occupation of Princeton in 1776 followed by George Washington's victory at the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comma ...

. In 1783, the

met in Nassau Hall, with many

Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the War of Independence ...

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.

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

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.

Palmer Square

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 Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in New York. This led to the 1936–1939 creation of

, a public square and planned development that combines stores, restaurants, and apartments, with a post office and a new building for the Nassau Inn. 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

mural in the Yankee Doodle Tap Room. The Inn underwent a 120-bed expansion in 1985, such that the hotel spans Palmer Square East.

Amenities

The hotel has 188 guest rooms, and 14 banquet rooms, with over in meeting space. Approximately 120,000 guests check in each year. Its close proximity to

helps to maintain high occupancy rates at the inn. 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.

In popular culture

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

References

External links

Official website
{{Princeton, New Jersey, state=collapsed Hotels in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Princeton, New Jersey