Black Squirrels Above Nassau Hall

At the time of it’s Construction in 1756, Nassau Hall was the largest stone building in the colonies and the new home of The College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. In the 1770s, the American Revolution swept through Princeton’s campus. Upon hearing that patriots in Boston had dumped tea in the Boston Harbor, university students took all the tea from the university’s storeroom and private stashes and had their own “tea party”, burning the tea in a large bonfire in front of Nassau Hall. When war broke out, the building was used as a barracks and hospital, changing hands numerous times before the end of the revolution. The Continental Congress used it as its temporary home in the summer of 1783, it is where General Washington received the thanks of the Congress for winning the war, where the first New Jersey Legislature met and where the first governor of New Jersey was inaugurated. 

The appearance of Nassau Hall has changed over the centuries. Over the years, it has been home to university classrooms, dormitories, a library and offices. The exterior of the building has also been damaged and repaired from war and from two fires in 1802 and 1855. Today, Old Nassau is an ivy-covered reminder of Princeton’s place in the American Revolution. Nassau Hall is seen in this tile along with the unusually black squirrels that are common on Princeton University campus and have long been a topic of conversation and lore.

Resources for Further Research:

1. Princetoniana (Princeton University)
2. Princeton University Art Museum
3. Green Oval Tour: A Snapshot of 18th Century Princeton (The Historical Society of Princeton)
4. National Register of Historic Places
5. Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute
6. Crossroads of the American Revolution
7. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • The Burning of Nassau Hall, March 6, 1802 (Princeton Standard, 1859)
   • Memorial Tablet on Nassau Hall (Alumni Princetonian, 1896)
   • Library Divulges Tale Of Patriotic Cannon Ball (Daily Princetonian, 1939)
   • New Bell for Nassau Hall (Daily Princetonian, 1950)
8. Titles from Princeton Public Library’s collection
9. Nature Walks with Henry Horn by Jared Flesher (Princeton University)
10. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
    • Black Squirrels Puzzle Nature Buffs (Daily Princetonian, 1972)
    • The Best and The Bushiest (Daily Princetonian, 1977)
    • Ask Dr. Blaine (Daily Princetonian, 1999)
    • Princeton Makes List of Squirrel-Obsessed Colleges (Daily Princetonian, 2013)