NJ, USA

Morven Museum & Garden

Historic House

Morven is the historic Stockton family estate on Stockton Street in Princeton. Built in the 1750s by Richard Stockton Sr. and expanded by his son Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, the property served as the family home until it was donated to the State of New Jersey in 1954. It served as the official governor's residence until 1981 and was opened as a museum in 2004.

The grounds include formal gardens that trace their origins to the designs of Annis Boudinot Stockton, who cultivated the estate's landscape in the colonial period.

What Happened Here

Morven was occupied and damaged by British forces during the occupation of Princeton in late 1776. The troops used it as a headquarters, destroyed furnishings and books, and slaughtered livestock. Annis Boudinot Stockton buried the family's important papers in the garden before fleeing, saving documents that would otherwise have been lost. The house was gradually restored after the war and served the Stockton family for several more generations.

The name "Morven" comes from the realm of Fingal in the Ossian poems by James Macpherson, reflecting the literary sensibility of Annis Boudinot Stockton. The property's evolution from colonial estate to governor's residence to museum mirrors the broader transformation of Princeton from a colonial village to a center of education and governance.