New Jersey State Museum

The New Jersey State Museum offers collections that include natural history specimens, archaeological and ethnographic artifacts, and cultural history and fine art objects.

The museum was the first state museum in the country established with education as a primary mission and was first housed in the New Jersey State House in 1895.

As a center of cultural, educational, and scientific engagement, the museum inspires learning through its collections, research, exhibitions, and programs in science, history, and art.

In its beginning, the museum focused on natural history. In 1912, the museum expanded its focus to include archaeology through the acquisition of Native American artifacts.

In 1924, decorative arts were added to the museum. Soon after, fine arts were exhibited and acquired, and the museum began collecting paintings, sculptures, and then in 1960 works on paper were added.

Today the museum consists of four floors for exhibitions, plus a Planetarium.

Highlights of the New Jersey State Museum

Prehistoric and historic specimens acquired from 100 years of excavations
Ethnographic Exhibits
Artifacts documenting New Jersey’s cultural, economic, military, political, and social history
Ceramics produced by Trenton potteries
Artifacts documenting craft, work, play, community, and family life in New Jersey
American abstract artists of the 1930s and 1940s
Works by 19th through 21st-century African-American artists
Natural history collections of minerals, fossils, and shells

New Jersey State Museum