Old Barracks - Trenton, NJ
N 40° 13.193 W 074° 46.106
18T E 519702 N 4452188
This is now a learning museum in which workers wear period uniforms and educate visitors about colonial history and The Revolutionary War. It is just around the corner from the State Capitol building.
Waymark Code: WM6VCK
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 07/23/2009
Views: 8
”The Old Barracks (open 10-5 weekdays, May to Aug.; 10-4, Sept. to April; adm. 10¢) S. Willow St. opposite W. Front St., is the only remaining unit of the five barracks erected in 1758-59 by the Colonial Assembly to house Colonial troops, previously billeted in private homes, during the French and Indian War. It is a pleasing example of the adaptation of the early Georgian Colonial style to a military building. Of U-shaped design, the courtyard walls carry a two-story roofed porch, supported on thin wood columns that give a southern air. The masonry is of random fieldstone with white wood trim. British troops, Hessian jaegers and American soldiers were quartered here during the Revolution; afterward the structure was used for private dwellings. In 1813, Front Street was cut through buildings, but the entire structure was restored about a century later. The original three long rooms have been divided into many small ones, some furnished with Colonial pieces, others used for exhibitions. One of the finest collections of Continental currency in the country is here. Some rooms are headquarters for various Colonial and Revolutionary societies. On the lawn is an elm grown from the root of the Cambridge tree under which George Washington assumed charge of the Continental Army. The property, restored by the State, is managed by the Old Barracks Association. ” --- New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past, 1939, p. 405
The Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, originally built in 1758 to house troops during the French and Indian War, is best remembered for its role in the 1776 and 1777 Battles of Trenton during the Revolutionary War. The Old Barracks was first opened as a museum in 1902 by a group of patriotic women who purchased the building and enlisted the help of several patriotic societies to help run the operation.
There is an historic marker which reads:
Built in 1758 for British troops of the French and Indian War. Hessians were quartered here before the Battle of Trenton.
Hours
Open daily 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
- Discount admissions for senior citizens, students & children
Closed Thankgiving, Dec. 24-25, Jan.1 and Easter
Address
S. Willow Street
Trenton, NJ 08608