The N.J. Museum is a very dynamic tourist attraction focusing on a multiple of scientific disciplines. It is located along historic W. State St., A stone's throw from the Statehouse. Three buildings make up this campus.
This is an excellent place to bring children. As it so happens this was my second trip, the first with my son, the second with his camp class. The museum is geared toward this audience, providing us with lots of exciting attractions and exhibits, a place to eat lunch and other amenities. Best of all, it was free. There is a donation area in Dinosaur Hall.
Some of the exhibits we saw was a complete display on indigenous N.J. flora on fauna species. Another hall was dedicated to environmental science and an awareness of our impact on our habitat and the implication of a carbon footprint which was cleverly done by painted foot prints all about bearing chemical symbols for man-created pollutants.
We left the main building and walked a hundred feet and went into a smaller, street side building, across from the Roebling Mansion. It was here we found out dinosaur friends. The children were memorized with skeletons, interpretives, hanging pterodactyls and other cool creatures. All in all, it was a fantastic day!
Wikipedia Says:
"The museum was established in 1895 by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, and was given the objective of collecting and displaying items related to the state's "natural history, archaeology, and industrial history." The museum's original collection consisted of natural history items collected in the 19th century, and was expanded in the early part of the 20th century with archaeological specimens collected through field research. A 1929 expansion into the State House Annex allowed the museum to display its collections of natural history and New Jersey artifacts. The museum began its ethnographic collection in 1932 with the acquisition of a collection of Native American art, which was expanded in the 1940s by anthropologist Frank Speck who made field collections from the Lenape of Oklahoma and Canada.
A dedicated museum complex near the New Jersey State House opened in 1965, including a four-level building, planetarium and auditorium. With the opening of the museum building, Fine art became the Museum's newest area of collection. The New Jersey State Museum received its initial accreditation in 1974 from the American Association of Museums.
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SOURCE
Finally, here is what the American Guide Series has to say about the museum:
”...and the State Museum (open 9-5 weekdays; 2-5 Sun.), which contains exhibits of natural resources, archeology and fauna of New Jersey, as well as minerals, fossils and Indian relics. Schools throughout the State are provided with teaching aids from lending collections.” --- New Jersey, a Guide to Its Present and Past, 1939, p. 408
I am not sure how cogent it is to read the A.G.S. narrative on the N.J. State Museum but I thought it was neat to see something written about this place almost 70 years old. It speaks to the longevity of this site and its cultural relevance to our state.
Attraction Page Navigation
1. First click HERE
2. On the left side of the page, click on About Trenton NJ. It is the second link from the top on the left side column of links.
3. You are now at the Visitors guide located here HERE
Once on this page, click on the second link down which reads Museums & Galleries.
4. Now you are HERE Scroll down until you see the link for the New Jersey State Museum (5th listing down), and finally you will be directed to the tourist attraction page which can be found HERE.