From the Archives

Students’ carvings decorate the pews in Princeton’s “Old Chapel,” which was built in 1847 in response to the college’s increased enrollment and need for additional worship space. Constructed in the shape of a cross near the east end of Nassau Hall, the chapel was used for religious services until 1882 and then as a lecture and recitation hall until 1896 (the time when students possibly carved their names in the wood), when it was razed to make room for the Pyne Library (now East Pyne). It was replaced by Marquand Chapel, which was completed in 1882 but destroyed by fire in 1920. The current University Chapel opened in 1928.