Princeton Battlefield State Park
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The Princeton Battlefield 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, is where American and British troops fought each other on January 3, 1777 in 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 comman ...
during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. The battle ended when the British soldiers in Nassau Hall surrendered. This success, following those at the
Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, ...
on December 26, 1776 and the
Battle of the Assunpink Creek The Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, was a battle between American and British troops that took place in and around Trenton, New Jersey, on January 2, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, an ...
the day before, helped improve American morale. With


Princeton Battlefield State Park

Princeton Battlefield State Park is a
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...
located in Princeton. The park preserves part of the site of 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 comman ...
(January 3, 1777), which was a victory for General George Washington's revolutionary forces over British forces. The park is maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, and is located on Mercer Road (Princeton Pike), about 1.5 miles south 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 ...
and 3.8 miles north of Interstate 295/95. The park was established in 1946 on approximately . Highlights of the park include the Princeton Battlefield site; the Clarke House Museum; the site of the Mercer Oak, a tree which stood in the middle of the battlefield until recent years; the Ionic Colonnade designed by Thomas U. Walter (fourth Architect of the U.S. Capitol); and a stone patio marking the grave of 21 British and 15 American soldiers killed in the battle. A poem was written for the site by Alfred Noyes, Poet Laureate of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The park's hiking trails lead to the
Delaware and Raritan Canal The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelp ...
and to the adjacent property of the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
. The
Princeton Battle Monument 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 ...
is located in town near
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 ...
on non-adjacent park property at Stockton Street and Bayard Lane.


Clarke House Museum

The Thomas Clarke House Museum was built in 1772 by the third generation of
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
at Stony Brook. The house is furnished in the Revolutionary period and contains military artifacts and battle exhibits, as well as a research library. During the battle Hugh Mercer was brought to the Clarke House and treated unsuccessfully by
Benjamin Rush Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educa ...
.


Threatened development

Part of the battlefield is now a state park, while other portions remain under threat of development. For several years, the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...
has been attempting to build faculty housing on the portion of Princeton Battlefield known as Maxwell's field. The Princeton Battlefield Society is protesting the project in court, and national and local preservation organizations are working to prevent construction on the property. The
American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization (501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. T ...
, based in Washington, D.C., has reached agreement with the institute to purchase almost 15 acres of the land for $4.5 million, more than $1 million above the site's appraised value. The Trust and its partners had already acquired and preserved of the battlefield. On May 30, 2018, the Trust announced that it had finalized the purchase after raising almost $3.2 million from private donors, which was matched by an $837,000 grant from the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...
and the Mercer County Open Space Assistance Program. The completed purchase ended the long dispute over how and whether the battlefield land would be developed.


Princeton Battlefield / Stony Brook Village Historic District

In 1989 the National Register of Historic Places designation of the Battlefield was expanded to form the Princeton Battlefield / Stony Brook Village Historic District. Princeton's original settlers were Quaker farmers along the Stony Brook immediately to the south and west of the battlefield. The
Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery are historic Quaker sites located at the Stony Brook Settlement at the intersection of Princeton Pike/Mercer Road and Quaker Road in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The first Europeans to settle in the ...
was well established at the time of the revolution and in full sight of the battle. The meetinghouse and associated farms are part of the contiguous preserved area that includes the battlefield.


Gallery

File:PrincetonBattleb.jpg, The Princeton battlefield with its map File:Mercermemorial.jpg, Mercer Memorial and Clarke House File:Historic American Buildings Survey Nathaniel R. Ewan, Photographer April 24, 1936 WEST ELEVATION - Stony Brook Quaker Meetinghouse, Quaker Road, Princeton, Mercer County, NJ HABS NJ,11-PRINT,5-1.tif, The Stony Brook meetinghouse in 1936 from the
Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...


See also

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


References


External links


Official website

Save Princeton Battlefield


{{authority control American Revolutionary War sites National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Historic districts in Princeton, New Jersey State parks of New Jersey Parks in Mercer County, New Jersey Museums in Princeton, New Jersey American Revolutionary War museums in New Jersey Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey Historic districts in Mercer County, New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey