The Indian King Tavern (also known as the Creighton House, or Creighton Tavern) was a colonial American tavern in Haddonfield, Camden County, New Jersey, United States, which was the site of a 1777 meeting of the New Jersey Legislature adopted its Great Seal. It was the first State Historic Site, adopted as such in 1903. Its original structure remains largely intact. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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In 1745, Mathias Aspden, a Quaker merchant and ship owner, purchased property in the center of the village of Haddonfield, cleared the poorly constructed brewery buildings, and began constructing the largest tavern on the village's main road, Kings Highway. The structure was completed in 1750. The building has been dated earlier with additional research. The oldest portion of the building dates to 1730.
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EST. 1750
In late 1776, the British Army invaded northern New Jersey. 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 also it 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, occupied four times by the British. This difficult time in New Jersey’s history is interpreted at the Tavern.
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