Nassau Hall

Princeton's iconic 1756 building, briefly the U.S. Capitol

Nassau Hall is the oldest and most iconic building at Princeton, a long honey-coloured stone block built in 1756 and named for King William III of the House of Nassau. When it was finished, it was the largest academic building in the American colonies. The two bronze tigers crouched at the entrance arrived in 1911; the ivy on the walls is older.

Today the building houses the university president's office and is normally open during business hours — you can walk into the entry rotunda and read the plaques. The two cannonball scars on the front facade are still visible, courtesy of the Battle of Princeton. The lawn in front, with FitzRandolph Gate at the far end and Cannon Green behind, is the centre of campus life.

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A story
In January 1777 Washington's troops chased the British into Nassau Hall during the closing minutes of the Battle of Princeton. According to tradition, Captain Alexander Hamilton — the same Hamilton — set up a cannon on the lawn and fired through the front windows, knocking the head off a portrait of George II that hung inside. Six years later the Continental Congress moved into the same building when British troops threatened Philadelphia, making Nassau Hall the de facto United States Capitol from June to November 1783. It is where Congress received word that Britain had recognised American independence.