Nassau Inn

A historic hotel on Palmer Square that has served Princeton visitors since 1937, though earlier inns have stood on this site for centuries. The elegant property maintains its colonial charm while harboring Revolutionary War era spirits.

The Nassau Inn's origins trace to 1756 when Judge Thomas Leonard built an elegant residence overlooking the college he had helped bring to Princeton. After Leonard's death, Christopher Beekman transformed it into the College Inn, which quickly became the center of town life. Its prime location on the King's Highway between New York and Philadelphia made it a crossroads for colonial America's most notable figures—Paul Revere, Robert Morris, and Thomas Paine all stayed overnight on multiple occasions.

The inn witnessed history firsthand during the American Revolution. In 1775, Princeton's Committee of Safety met within its walls, and delegates stopped overnight on their way to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Signers of the Declaration of Independence rested here in 1776. As Princeton changed hands during the war, the inn accommodated soldiers from both sides—British and Hessian officers after their capture of Princeton in 1777, then American soldiers following George Washington's victory at the Battle of Princeton. When the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall in 1783, the Founding Fathers stayed at the inn just steps away, celebrating the Treaty of Paris over the establishment's famous punchbowls.

More than one guest at the Palmer Square hostelry has reported seeing a Revolutionary War soldier on one of the floors. He's not angry, witnesses say, but has a curious expression—as if confused about the modern surroundings. A woman in period dress has been seen going upstairs from the lobby to the second floor private meeting rooms, then vanishing. The long history of military activity in Princeton during the Revolution seems to have left permanent residents.

The most compelling modern haunting centers on mathematician Kurt Gödel, Albert Einstein's close friend and walking companion at the Institute for Advanced Study. When both lived in Princeton, Gödel and Einstein often ended their famous daily walks at Nassau Inn to share tea together. Today, many believe Gödel's spirit lingers in the second-floor lobby, particularly near the iconic red chairs where he was known to sit with Einstein. Staff report that the second-floor lobby is where visitors are most likely to experience unusual temperature changes. Paranormal investigators have reported their equipment responding most intensely when a photograph of Gödel's wife, Adele, was displayed while recounting his story—suggesting Kurt's spirit takes comfort in knowing his beloved Adele continues to be honored.

The Nassau Inn embraces its supernatural legacy today. Princeton Tour Company features the inn on its ghost tours, and the hotel was recognized on the 2025 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America Most Haunted Hotels list. For guests seeking an appropriately atmospheric experience, the hotel offers Halloween wedding packages with black linens, tall candlesticks, and seasonal "spirited" cocktails at the bar.