Liberty Hall Museum: planning a visit in Elizabeth

Liberty Hall Museum is a historic family home and garden museum whose story spans seven generations of the Livingston and Kean families. William Livingston’s original 14-room Georgian-style house later expanded into a 50-room Victorian mansion.

Livingston was New Jersey’s first elected governor and a signer of the United States Constitution. Liberty Hall opened to the public in 2000. Its collections include furniture, decorative arts, clothing, ceramics, textiles, toys and tools connected with the two families.

The museum sits on Kean University’s campus. If you are planning a wider campus visit, the Kean University campus trip guide covers that part of Elizabeth-area planning.

The house and grounds give you two distinct parts of the visit: the rooms and family collections inside, and the gardens and landscaped spaces outside. The grounds include an English parterre garden and maze, an herb garden, an apple orchard and a 12-acre arboretum.

The Firehouse Museum adds a separate look at New Jersey firefighting history, with memorabilia that includes three historic fire engines. Garden tours are offered from April through October, and you can also stroll through the gardens on your own.

For a broader look at local stops beyond campus, the Elizabeth city center guide covers getting around and finding places in the city.

The standard house tour is guided by a museum educator and lasts one hour. Liberty Hall is open for tours from April 1 through the last Sunday of December. Public tours do not run in January; February and March tours are available by reservation only.

Opening hours

• Wednesday to Sunday: 11 AM–4 PM
• Monday and Tuesday: closed

Last checked November 2026. Hours can change on holidays and for special events.

Tickets are timed and must be purchased online at least one hour before the scheduled tour. Listed admission is $14 for adults, $12 for Kean alumni and $10 for seniors, children and college students. Members, Kean staff and students, and children under 3 enter free.

Some tours follow a monthly pattern at 1 p.m. on Sundays: a children’s history scavenger hunt on the first Sunday, an architecture tour on the second, “Uncovering the Enslaved of Liberty Hall” on the third, and the Ladies of Liberty Hall tour on the fourth.

The children’s tour is recommended for grades 1–5. These programs focus, respectively, on the house’s history, its architectural changes, the lives of enslaved people at the site, and the women who lived and labored there.

Groups need at least 10 patrons and must reserve at least two weeks in advance. Tour times, admission and seasonal arrangements can change, so check the official site before you go.

The museum is at 1003 Morris Avenue on the Kean University campus in Union, New Jersey. From Elizabeth, you can plan the museum as a local outing; the drive from Rest Inn takes about 8 minutes. A parking lot is near the Visitor’s Center.

When you arrive, check in at the Visitor’s Center, known as the Blue House, and aim to arrive close to your reservation time. Use the museum’s directions to plan your approach to campus.

Allow one hour for the standard guided house tour, then leave time for the grounds if you want to see the gardens. Garden tours follow a seasonal schedule, while self-guided garden strolls are also possible. If you are choosing a themed Sunday tour, match its subject to the monthly pattern.

Plan for gravel walkways across the grounds. The mansion is not ADA-compliant, and the museum reports work toward accessibility improvements. For specific access questions, contact the museum before making plans.