Prospect Farm (Prospect House at Princeton University)
- Identifier
- NJS-PLC-00116
- Place Type
- Domicile
- College or university
- Located In
- Princeton
- Description
-
Prospect House is a historic mansion at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, which serves as a private dining club for faculty and staff. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion was erected in 1851 by Thomas Potter when he inherited the Prospect Farm from his father John Potter. The land that once comprised Prospect Farm makes up a significant portion of the Princeton University campus today.
The Potter family had relocated from Georgia to Princeton and purchased Prospect Farm in 1824. The Potters drew immense wealth from the vast plantations they owned in South Carolina and Georgia where hundreds of enslaved people toiled, and they continued investing in Southern plantations after moving to Prospect Farm.
Since the 18th century, Prospect operated as an active farm, with multiple generations of enslaved African Americans held in bondage there. Archival documents, some of which have been described by the Princeton & Slavery Project, confirm the presence of enslaved laborers at Prospect Farm while it was operated by the Morgan family. Accounting records of Col. George Morgan, who bought the farm in 1779, enumerate multiple transactions related to enslaved laborers on his farm. Morgan's records are held by Princeton University Archives and discussed in the "Prospect Farm" story on the Princeton & Slavery website.
Prospect Farm changed hands in 1804 when John I. Craig purchased it from the Morgans. John I. Craig was also an enslaver. During the time when he lived at Prospect Farm, he held in bondage a woman named Esther and her children. Esther gave birth to daughters Elizabeth (1805) and Maria (1807) at Prospect Farm. The birth records for Elizabeth and Maria are found among Middlesex County records for West Windsor Township (historically this section of Princeton was part of West Windsor, and West Windsor was in turn part of Middlesex County before the creation of Mercer County). - Locality
- Princeton
- County (Modern)
- Mercer County
- County (Historical)
- Middlesex County
- State or Province
- New Jersey
- Country
- United States of America
- Organization
-
Princeton University
- Latitude
- 40.346931
- Longitude
- -74.656769
- References
-
Fluehr, Kathryn. “Prospect Farm.” Princeton & Slavery Project. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://slavery.princeton.edu/stories/prospect-farm.
Henningson, Trip. “The Potter Family of Prospect and Palmer Houses.” Princeton & Slavery Project. Accessed April 15, 2023. https://slavery.princeton.edu/stories/the-potter-family-of-prospect-and-palmer-houses
Documents for Prospect submitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. NPGallery, ID 85002434. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/39e1a152-648b-487d-9069-9f54b809e24e.
- Keywords
- National Register of Historic Places
- Image Rights
- Photograph of Prospect house and gardens circa 1870s, from Princeton University Archives. Image submitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. From NPGallery, ID 85002434. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/39e1a152-648b-487d-9069-9f54b809e24e
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Persons
-
To filter persons by location and other criteria, visit the Persons browsing page.
Persons of African descent linked to Prospect Farm (Prospect House at Princeton University):
- Elizabeth (b. 1805) {daughter of Esther}
- Esther
- Maria (b. 1807) {daughter of Esther}
- Michael Hoy (b. 1740)
White persons linked to Prospect Farm (Prospect House at Princeton University):
- Linked Events
-
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