Rutherfurd Hall

Rutherfurd Hall (built 1902) is a National and NJ State Historic Landmark.  A Tudor country home in Allamuchy, NJ, the hall was designed by famed architect Whitney Warren (Grand Central Station) for Winthrop Rutherfurd (1862-1944) who was the son of Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-1892)and Margaret Chanler Stuyvesant (?-1890) a descendant of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant.

Rutherfurd Hall tells meaningful historical stories of these citizens of New Jersey and their associates, architectural history and landscape history, local food production and hunts, animal breeding, boating and riding, and being “entertained” in the remote landscape. The three story Tudor mansion is in beautiful condition and begs for public admittance.

Since early US history, the Rutherfurd family has had a positive impact on this region of New Jersey. This region’s landscape is shaped by their generous preservation and conservation, in the form of Allamuchy State Park and Rutherfurd Hall. Allamuchy State Park is largely comprised of land acquired through successive land purchases by Rutherfurd Stuyvesant in the 1890s to enlarge his estate from the original property, which now comprises today’s Tranquility Farms property.   The original property is listed among land inventory of Walter Rutherfurd, which he acquired through his marriage in 1758 to Catherine Alexander, daughter of James Alexander and Mary Spratt Alexander. The Alexander Family was a large landowner in Western New Jersey, owning larger tracks of land in Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex County, New Jersey.   The first family member to live in the old Rutherfurd home, which became Tranquility Farm, was John Rutherfurd who was given the property as a wedding gift in 1787 when he married Helena Morris, daughter Lewis Morris.   John Rutherfurd lived here during his term as U.S. Senator from New Jersey (1791-1798).   Upon his resignation from his Senate seat in 1798, he moved to Trenton, where he had invested in the Trenton and Delaware Bridge Company and served as president of the East Jersey Proprietors from 1804-1840, making him one of the state’s most powerful figures.

Tranquility, part of Allamuchy, played an important role in astronomy as a result of photographs taken here, of the moon, by Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-1892). In 1865, using an 11½-inch objective lens (of his own design) on a telescope coupled to a camera, Rutherfurd made spectacular photographs of the moon as well as stars as faint as ninth magnitude, and named parts of the moon's surface. These images brought him fame as an astrophysicist.  Recently, Rutherfurd Hall was contacted by the Antique Telescope Society; we hope to partner with them to exhibit this telescope and Rutherfurd’s photographs.

What is the current development plan for Rutherfurd Hall? Rutherfurd Hall is a museum and community education facility in development. We are a non-profit endeavor working in collaboration with many non-profit and public entities. The Allamuchy Township Board of Education works with the Allamuchy Township Education Foundation, the Allamuchy Historical Society, Allamuchy Township, Allamuchy State Park (DEP), private donors, and other organizations. As the new caretakers of this pristine site, Allamuchy BOE sees Rutherfurd Hall as a transformative development project; a museum and community education facility with a focus on history, art and culture, environmental sciences, health and wellness, with a myriad of community uses and events.

In the simplest terms, Rutherfurd Hall is for people seeking sanctuary, history and nature, education and recreation.