Indian King Tavern

Now we move to our first point of interest: The Haddonfield Indian King Tavern. Indian King Tavern is New Jersey's first state-owned hsitorical site that was aquired in 1903. It is wheer New Jersey completed its transition from colony to state. On the second-floor of the Indian King Tavern, laws were created that revised important election procedures, laws that created township governments, and laws that set up state courts were all passed. Measures that strengthened the militia, regulated a war economy, and provided emergency support to the Continental army were taken. Today, the Indian King Tavern offers free tours and history lessons to anyone interested to Haddonfield's past.

What isn't frequently advertised about the Haddonfield Indian King Tavern is that along with the important second-floor law discussions, and the beer served on the first floor, the basement held slaves. To many of the black members of Haddonfield's community, the Indian King Tavern serves as salt to the wound about our ugliest history. It acts as a memorial for all of the hardship that their race has gone through, and it sits right in the center of Kings Highway; Haddonfield's main street. It serves as a dark place for our minorities, but a place of celebration for our white majority.