MORVEN MUSEUM AND GARDEN The Morven Museum and garden is located on 55 Stockton street in beautiful Princeton NJ. The museum was actually the former NJ governor's mansion of days past. We enjoyed this tour very much. Although this tour is not very lengthy, it is filled with great culture and history of New Jersey. It has a gorgeous public garden that you can browse through and relax in. Pictured above is a painting of Annis Boudinot Stockton, a quite accomplished poet of her day. She and Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived in Morven in the 18th century. Our tour started in a large main room, filled with intriguing paintings. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and plesant.
Tour of the rooms On the tour, you pretty much get to view the whole house and learn the history about all the generations of Stocktons which resided at Morven through the early 20th century. Although all made significant contributions to their community, Commodore Robert Stockton (1795-1869) became particularly well known as a United States naval hero and President of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. General Robert Wood Johnson, Chairman of Johnson and Johnson, was the first non-family member to reside at Morven (1928-1944). He was followed by five New Jersey governors when Morven served as the state’s first Governor’s Mansion.
Beautiful furnshings Throughout the house are wonderful furnishings such as this vase pictured to the right. Most of the furnitue is borrowed from museums on loan but some is still original. At the end of the tour, you get a chance to wander the lovely gardens and gift shop. Combine this tour with lunch in downtown Princeton and you have a nice inexpensive day trip that you will be sure to enjoy. We ventured to the FREEPrinceton Art Museum after Morven and had a wonderful cultural experience.