![]() ![]() On a dead end, multi-family home block, in back of a gas station and across from a bar, the 1760 Campfield home seems misplaced. Locals are capitalizing on Hamilton fever by delving into his history, and here it’s the “Match Made in Morristown.” It was in the inauspicious Campfield House that the now celebrated Alexander Hamilton began to court his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler. TOUR: Schuyler-Hamilton House aka Campfield House Open Wed-Sun 9:30-5, $7 adults, kids under 15 free. After a two-minute walk to the Ford Mansion, your tour is self-guided through rooms on two stories. They made room for George and Martha Washington, five aides-de-camp (one was Alexander Hamilton), and 18 servants – about 30 people in all. This home belonged to the widow Theodosia Ford and her children. Generals would routinely appropriate large houses in order to accommodate staff and servants. The fighting basically stopped in wintertime as “there were no snowplows,” according to our guide. America’s Revolutionary War was fought in temperate seasons only. Your 30-40 minute Ford Mansion tour begins in the Visitor’s Center with a short overview. He flipped the canvas upside down, and over the years, faint images of the woman’s arms have eked through. Look for the faint “bunny ears” near Washington’s head – evidence that Stuart painted over the image of a woman. ![]() Stocked with documents, maps, and Revolutionary War memorabilia, perhaps the most popular artifact in the Museum is a link from the West Point chain that blocked the British from sailing up the Hudson River.įind an original Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington (one of 100 he painted). It was built in the 1930’s by the National Park Service. Though the Mansion stood during the Revolution (circa 1774), the Museum/Visitor’s Center is relatively new. Begin in the Visitor’s Center, which also serves as a museum and mustering area for Ford Mansion tours. Washington’s Headquarters is the centerpiece of Morristown National Historic Park. TOUR: George Washington Headquarters Museum/Visitor’s Center and Ford Mansion. The Getaway Mavens recommend this as one of the Best Places to Propose in NJ. There’s a lot to do and see in this exhibit alone, so plan on at least an hour and more to explore the rest of this world class museum. It’s both familiar and utterly wonderful. Many take video of fan belts driving the bellows that breath life into organ pipes, rolls of perforated paper (the computer programs of the Victorian age) pooling in a stack, cymbals, xylophones, and other marvels of sound engineering. When switched on, a loud, rich sound draws museum guests from the rest of the galleries. It was restored with a Plexiglas base so viewers can see its inner workings. The 1913 Popper’s “Rex” dance hall “Orchestrion” is the largest mechanical instrument in the collection. An “automata” Flute Player, hiding a whole pipe organ in his chest, and powered only by air, could well have enticed shoppers into an 1870’s French shop. The Piano-Violin Nickelodeon might have once stood in a Soda Fountain. They were common even in rural areas, as evidenced by a grainy 1888 photo of a Nebraska farm family sitting outside their mud house, a home-organ at their feet. Though technically complex, many of these pieces were the phonographs and radios of the day. The exhibit opened in 2007 to much elation. After his death in 2002, the Morris Museum was awarded the whole Guinness collection. ![]() So much so that over his lifetime he amassed hundreds of these mechanical musical instruments. Guinness, of beer family lineage, was smitten by the first small Swiss Music Box he received as a child. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata Most were manufactured in the industry’s 19 th Century heyday. This is when docents demonstrate one or several (among 150) of these feats of orchestral engineering. Guinness Collection of Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata. Sure, it holds rocks, minerals, mounted birds, and mammals.īut at 2pm sharp every day, you’ll want to enter the climate controlled galleries housing the unsurpassed 750-piece Murtogh D. ![]() The Morris Museum is a fantastic institution with a Georgian-style mansion encapsulated within a contemporary wing. STAY: Westin Governor Morris Hotel, Morristown.EAT: Blue Morel and Wine Bar Westin Governor Morris Hotel, Morristown.EAT/BREAKFAST/LUNCH: Artist Baker, Morristown.Day Trip To Thomas Edison National Historical Park.TOUR: Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, Morris Plains.STOP: Fort Nonsense, Morristown National Historic Park.DRIVE/TOUR: Jockey Hollow at Morristown National Historic Park.TOUR: Schuyler-Hamilton House aka Campfield House.TOUR: George Washington Headquarters Museum/Visitor’s Center and Ford Mansion. ![]()
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