A Historical Tour of Princeton Theological Seminary
By Michael J. Paulus, Jr.
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Contents
1.
Princeton, the College of New Jersey, and the Revolution
2.
The Establishment of the Seminary at Princeton
3.
The Expansion of the Seminary in the Nineteenth Century
4.
The Evolution of the Seminary in the Twentieth Century
1. Princeton, the College of New Jersey, and the Revolution
Nassau Hall, by Jonathan Fisher, used with permission of the Princeton University Library
The earliest colonists to settle in the Princeton area arrived in the late 17th
century. By 1724, the area was being
John Witherspoon
referred to as Prince-Town, in honor of King
William III, Prince of Orange. In 1756, construction of Nassau Hall was
completed and Princeton became the home of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton
University). The College of New Jersey, the fourth chartered college in
the colonies, was established in 1746 by a group of Presbyterian ministers who
wanted a college that was supportive of the Great Awakening.
In 1768, John Witherspoon was called from Scotland to be the sixth president of the
College of New Jersey. Under Witherspoon’s leadership, Princeton became one the
most influential centers of American learning. Largely because of Witherspoon, the only
clergyman and college president to sign the Declaration of Independence, Princeton became
known as the “seedbed” of the American Revolution. Six months after the Declaration was
signed, Princeton was the site of a strategic victory for George Washington, when he
surprised the British in the Battle of Princeton and drove them from Nassau Hall.