Liberty Hall Museum: Visiting the Historic Elizabeth Estate

Liberty Hall Museum preserves a historic home connected to seven generations of the Livingston and Kean families. Its story began with William Livingston’s 14-room Georgian-style house and continued as the residence expanded into a 50-room Victorian mansion. Its campus location also makes it possible to combine a visit with time at Kean University’s Main Campus.

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

The museum also includes the Firehouse Museum, which displays New Jersey firefighting memorabilia, including three historic fire engines.

The standard house tour is a one-hour guided visit led by a museum educator. It introduces the historic home and its collections; check the tour schedule when planning your visit.

Special tours focus on different aspects of the site. A children’s tour with a history scavenger hunt is recommended for children in grades 1–5. Other recurring options examine the house’s architecture, the lives of women who lived and labored there, and the history of enslaved people at Liberty Hall, drawing on records and other evidence.

Group visits require at least 10 patrons and must be reserved at least two weeks ahead. If you’re arranging a group visit, account for that lead time as you plan.

The estate grounds include an English parterre garden and maze, an herb garden, an apple orchard and a 12-acre arboretum. Garden tours are offered from April through October, and you can also stroll through the gardens on your own.

Give yourself time outside the house tour to see the grounds. The gardens and arboretum offer a different view of the estate from the furnished rooms and family collections.

Liberty Hall Museum offers public tours from April 1 through the last Sunday of December. The museum is closed for public tours 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.

Standard tours are scheduled at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are timed and must be purchased online at least one hour before the scheduled tour. 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.

Check in at the Visitor’s Center, known as the Blue House, and arrive close to your reservation time. The property walkways are gravel, and the mansion is not ADA-compliant. The museum reports that it is working toward accessibility improvements with a New Jersey Historic Trust grant.

Hours, tour schedules and admission details can change, so check the official site before you go.

Liberty Hall Museum is about an 8-minute drive from the Ritz Motel. The museum is on the Kean University campus in Union, and a parking lot is near the Visitor’s Center.

The museum is in Union, so you can plan your Elizabeth connections with this guide to Elizabeth stations, local routes and day trips.