Drumthwacket! — ON FOOT, ON WHEELS

WHERE: Princeton, New Jersey

START/FINISH: Princeton station (New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor line and Amtrak, then New Jersey Transit Princeton Shuttle), fully accessible

DISTANCE: 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers)

Photographs by Michael Cairl except as noted.

*Map of this walk, going clockwise from the Princeton station. Map courtesy footpathmap.com.*

When the U.S. Mint began the 50 States quarter dollar series in 1999, the new quarters appeared in the order of their respective state’s accession to the Union. New Jersey was the second, and its design was one of the better ones. It bears the legend “Crossroads of the Revolution” and indeed New Jersey was, being situated between the largest city in the British colonies, Philadelphia, and New York.

Major military actions took place near Trenton (Washington crossing the Delaware River), Monmouth Court House (present-day Freehold), Morristown, and Princeton. Princeton has battle monuments, Princeton University, Albert Einstein’s house from when he was at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, and more.

All these would have made for a good trip, and the theme could have been Revolutionary Trails: Princeton. In 1681 William Penn purchased a large tract of land that includes present-day Princeton and its surrounds. Yet there is another thing about Princeton: the official residence of the governors of New Jersey, Drumthwacket. No, Drumthwacket is not an old-fashioned expletive, and it isn’t the name of a Charles Dickens character (think Hezekiah Drumthwacket). It’s a real place, visited on this walk.

This walk started at the Princeton railroad station, a 5-minute train ride from Princeton Junction on the Northeast Corridor. (Sidebar: Princeton Junction is an excellent place for trainspotting). Many mighty railroads are or were known by their initials: UP, PRR, and so on. The Princeton Shuttle, known locally as the Dinky, should be known as the PJ&B (Princeton Junction and Back).

I walked up a gentle hill past the Princeton Theological Seminary, founded in 1812.

*Stuart Hall at Princeton Theological Seminary.*

Passing the seminary, I turned onto Mercer Street heading toward no. 112, a simple frame house which Albert Einstein bought in 1936 and lived in for the rest of his life.

From there I walked up to Stockton Street (U.S. Route 206), which is the road to Trenton. It is a portion of the Colonial era King’s Highway from Newark to Philadelphia. After a short distance I came upon Drumthwacket. In 1697 William Olden purchased the land on which Drumthwacket stands.

*Survey, dated 21 October 1696, of William Olden’s land purchase. Image courtesy The Drumthwacket Foundation.*

In 1835 a descendant of William Olden, Charles Smith Olden, who gained his wealth in business ventures in New Orleans and an inheritance from an uncle, began construction of Drumthwacket in 1835. According to The Drumthwacket Foundation:

For its name, Drumthwacket was the estate of a hero in one of Sir Walter Scott’s popular historical novels, A Legend (of the Wars) of Montrose, published in 1819. It is believed that Governor Olden gave his new house this Scots-Gaelic name (which means “wooded hill”) upon reading the book. The original structure consisted of the center hall with two rooms on each side in addition to the large portico with detailed Ionic columns.

*Drumthwacket seen from across Stockton Street.*

Unfortunately, Drumthwacket was not open to the public this day, and the sidewalk is on the opposite side of Stockton Street. It has been the official residence of the governors of New Jersey since 1982 but is not lived in by the current governor, Phil Murphy. It is maintained by The Drumthwacket Foundation, whose website, https://drumthwacket.org/, has plenty of information about the history of the house and current programs there.

Walking back into town, I passed several splendid houses.

*The Present Day Club, founded in 1898.*

Near the beginning of Stockton Street is Morven, built in the 1750s by Richard Stockton (1730 - 1781), a signer of the Declaration of Independence whose land grant in Princeton led the College of New Jersey to move there from Newark in 1756. The College of New Jersey is now Princeton University. The house remained in Stockton family ownership until 1944, when it was purchased by New Jersey Governor Walter E. Edge. The sale was subject to the condition that Morven would be given to the state of New Jersey within two years of Edge's death. Edge transferred ownership of Morven to the state during 1954, several years before he died. Morven was the official residence of the governors of New Jersey from 1944 until 1981. The house is now a museum.

A bit farther on is the Princeton Battle Monument.

Across Stockton Street from the Princeton Battle Monument is the stately Trinity Church (Episcopalian). From the church’s website:

Founded in 1833 by a group of local families, including architect and churchwarden Charles Steadman who built a stick-framed Greek Revival meeting hall for the congregation. Over the next forty years, Trinity prospered and in 1870 the original structure was replaced by a stone Gothic Revival church designed by architect Richard Upjohn. In the first two decades of the 20th century, architect Ralph Adams Cram was hired twice, first doubling the nave in length and later creating a small chapel in the north transept, a larger French Gothic chancel, and a significantly heightened tower accommodating a small carillon of ten Meneely bells. With some interior alterations, this is the church as it is today.

From there I walked down University Avenue toward the train station, not quite making it as I tripped and fell, and was taken to the emergency room at Princeton Medical Center. Fortunately the damage is not too serious, the worst of it being on my right knee. But I’ll be back walking soon and will definitely return to Princeton, as there is much more to take in.