Patriots Theater at the War Memorial – Trenton, NJ

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one would have no idea the treasures that are hidden in the War Memorial in Trenton. Opened in 1932, it was designed as a community center to honor the memory of the soldiers who died in World War 1. Today the draw for Retro Roadmappers here is 2 fold - the Patriots Theater and the Möller Theatre Pipe Organ housed inside the theater. Not that the building itself isn’t without note, with its classic columns and limestone exterior.

Inside the building - which fell into disrepair before being restored by the State of New Jersey and rededicated in 1999, open the oversized doors into the foyer. With its coffered ceiling and star-spangled chandeliers it is located outside the auditorium known as Patriots Theater.

The theatre is decorated in Italian Renaissance Revival style it seats over 1800 people with loge, mezzanine and balcony seating and is topped with a gloriously decorative ceiling. In the opposite direction of the ceiling and not to be missed, the lower lounge areas are surprisingly decorative and Mod Betty loves the art deco fish “swimming” above the water fountains.

Open for shows of all sorts and available to rent, we were lucky enough to see a screening of Fritz Lang’s silent film Metropolis here, accompanied by music played on the Moeller Theater Pipe Organ. Originally designed in 1928 for the nearby Lincoln Theatre (now demolished) the organ was restored by and is maintained by GSTOS / Garden State Theatre Organ Society.

Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra once played here!

Evenings and weekends free parking is available

Known officially as the “Trenton and Mercer County War Memorial-Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Building”