In late 1776, the British Army invaded northern New Jersey, and the New Jersey Legislature fled south to Haddonfield. In May 1777, Hugh Creighton, keeper of the Indian King Tavern, purchased the dwelling in which the New Jersey Assembly had rented a room. From Creighton’s room, the Assembly approved 20 war measures, ranging from the purchase of arms and ammunition to granting militia exemptions to men working in defense industries. Here it also approved a state seal and voted to establish the word State instead of Colony in commissions, writs, and other process. In September 1777, the British invaded Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Legislature moved back north. Haddonfield became a Continental Army garrison town and was occupied four times by the British. The building began in 1732 as a brewery, later evolved into a hotel, and in 1903 became New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site.
