Liberty Hall was built in 1772 as a 14-room Georgian house by William Livingston, a lawyer who served as a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress. Livingston became New Jersey's first elected governor, serving throughout the war and continuing until 1790. He was also a Signer of the Constitution. Livingston's daughter, Sarah, was married here in the Great Hall in 1774 to John Jay, later Chief Justice of the United States. Liberty Hall evolved into a 50-room Italianate mansion during more than two centuries of single-family ownership by the Livingston-Kean family, which numbers governors, congressmen and U.S. senators among its members. The house, its 23-acre site and its collections are now owned by Kean University. Today, visitors can tour the mansion or stroll through the formal English gardens.



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