Princeton Battle Monument

Princeton Battle Monument
State of New Jersey
For The Battle of Princeton, 3 January, 1777
Unveiled 1922
Location Princeton, New Jersey
Designed by Frederick MacMonnies, Thomas Hastings
Here memory lingers to recall the guiding mind whose daring plan outflanked the foe and turned dismay to hope when Washington, with swift resolve, marched through the night to fight at dawn and venture all in one victorious battle for our freedom.
A map of Mercer County, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°20′52.1″N 74°39′57.1″W / 40.347806°N 74.665861°WCoordinates: 40°20′52.1″N 74°39′57.1″W / 40.347806°N 74.665861°W
NRHP Reference # 75001143
Added to NRHP 27 June, 1975

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 victory and the death of General Hugh Mercer. It stands 50 feet (15 m) tall and was inspired by carvings on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.[1]

Commissioned in 1908, the Monument was designed by the prominent Beaux Arts sculptor Frederick MacMonnies with the assistance of architect Thomas Hastings. President Warren G. Harding was present for the 1922 dedication of the Monument. Nighttime illumination of the Monument was part of the original plan for its construction, but it was only in 2007, 85 years after the completion of the Monument, that the lighting work finally got underway, after a successful fundraising effort by the Princeton Parks Alliance. Charles Stone of the New York firm Fischer Marantz Stone designed the lighting scheme.

After years of neglect and unsuccessful "restorations", the monument underwent a professional conservation treatment in 2006 and 2007, as part of the State of New Jersey historic preservation initiative. The treatment was carried out by Aegis Restauro, LLC led by conservators, Zbigniew Pietruszewski and Joanna Pietruszewski, and Farewell, Mills and Gatsch Architects. In September 2007, the Monument was ceremoniously rededicated when the lights were switched on for the first time.

References

  1. ↑ "Princeton Historic District" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.