Princeton Battlefield State Park

The battlefield was the site of the engagement on the morning of January 3, 1777, when Washington's army, having marched through the night from Trenton, encountered Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood's British force. The battle began near the Thomas Clarke farmhouse when Mercer's advance brigade collided with Mawhood's column. The initial British counterattack routed the Americans, but Washington's personal arrival with reinforcements turned the engagement into an American victory.

The open fields visible today are essentially the same terrain over which the armies fought. The slight ridge where Mawhood formed his line, the orchard area where Mercer fell, and the fields across which Washington led his charge are all identifiable within the park. The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry manages the site, and interpretive markers guide visitors through the sequence of the battle.

The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.