By Bill Hawkins
Following Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton, Washington marched the Continental Army into New Jersey as they followed the British Army looking for an opportunity to help the American cause. That opportunity presented itself by accident at Princeton, and so off to Princeton I went.
My first stop was to see Nassau Hall on the campus of Princeton University. I wanted to see the building where Aaron Burr attended college to get a first hand view. Here are some things I learned, or had forgotten I had learned about Nassau Hall.
During the revolution the University was called The College of New Jersey, and not Princeton College.
The building was the largest in the entire 13 colonies. Of course, I visited when it was surrounded with scaffolding as they did restoration work. Therefore, I couldn’t find where the cannonball had hit the building as the American tried to drive the British from the building.
The stone steps in the building have worn down after two and half centuries of foot traffic pounding up and down the half spiral staircases on each end of the three story building. I thought the wear was significant as I climbed up the stairs and could feel the uneven surface beneath the soles of my feet.
Here are a few things I didn’t learn. I was curious to know what the building originally looked like before restorations and additions from over a hundred years ago. I couldn’t find out, because to my surprise, there wasn’t a pamphlet available with that kind of information.
In what room was the portrait of King George hanging when a cannonball took off his head after the American’s fired upon the building to drive out the British?
What did the surroundings of the college look like before and during the revolution? Were there other building around Nassau Hall that made up part of the college? Where did the students lodge? Were they all housed in Nassau Hall?
These are some of the questions I hoped to find when I visited the building, but there was no guide, or even printed guide. I’m sure the information must be available somewhere, so if you’re visiting the place, you may want to find your answers before you go.
After my self-guided tour of Nassau Hall at the College of New Jersey, I ventured a few miles to the site of the Battle of Princeton. Look for my next post as I describe that little adventure.