The East Jersey Proprietors had this imposing brick Georgian mansion built in 1762 as the official residence for Royal Governor William Franklin. Franklin didn’t move in until 1774 and was placed under house arrest on January 8, 1776, by order of the Continental Congress. His wife remained in residence for two years after his arrest. Badly damaged by a fire in 1785, the building was enlarged as a resort hotel in 1809. The only official Royal Governor’s mansion surviving in the Thirteen Colonies, it was partially restored in 1994.
General Howe abandoned his campaign in New Jersey and evacuated his troops from Perth Amboy to Staten Island on June 30,1777. From there the British would soon move on by sea to attack and capture Philadelphia.
