Princeton ยท Palmer Square
Nassau Inn
Opened on Palmer Square in 1938 as successor to an inn of 1769, with a Norman Rockwell mural; part of the hotel is a 1985 expansion.
- Built
- 1937Current building put up in 1937 as part of Palmer Square and opened in 1938; expanded in 1985. The original inn (1756 house, an inn from 1769) stood at 52 Nassau Street.
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Rooms
- 188
- Area
- Palmer Square
- Credentials
- Historic Hotels of America member; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
The inn began in 1769 in Judge Thomas Leonard’s 1756 house at 52 Nassau Street and hosted members of the Continental Congress when it met at Nassau Hall in 1783. In 1937 that building was demolished for Edgar Palmer’s Palmer Square development, and the present inn opened facing the square in 1938, built of argillite, shale stone and timber under a Ludowici tile roof. Its Yankee Doodle Tap Room has a mural Norman Rockwell painted over the bar in 1939. A 1985 expansion took the hotel along Palmer Square East.
Good to know
- Pets welcome
- Address: 10 Palmer Square East, Princeton, NJ 08542
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.