Proprietary House
Proprietary House is a mansion in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, built in 1764. Former royal governor's mansion with ghost-tour programming and a current closure notice. It sits in the archive under ghost-tour sites and historic houses. The dossier holds 1 documented fact — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. Closed to the public, but not to the record.
Homepage notice says reopening delayed until late2026. Reconfirm before visiting.
· in your passport — stamped · open it
Is Proprietary House haunted?
No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.
The record — long form
Proprietary House is the last royal governor's mansion — the only official residence of a colonial royal governor still standing from the original thirteen, built in 1764 by the East Jersey Proprietors to give their capital a fitting seat. Its most famous resident was William Franklin — Benjamin's son, the last royal governor of New Jersey, and the last in the colonies still holding power when the Revolution came.
The house was the stage for the family's break: Benjamin came to Perth Amboy to argue his son out of Loyalism and failed; William held on until the Assembly arrested him in the mansion in January 1776 and sent him to trial and a Connecticut prison. He never saw his wife or the house again — Elizabeth stayed until the British evacuated in 1777 and died in New York a month later. The mansion served both armies, survived fire and decades of ruin, and is a museum now, still standing on Kearny Avenue.
The file keeps Proprietary House: the 1764 proprietors' mansion, the Franklins' rupture, the arrest in the dining room, and the last royal governor's house in America.
Proprietary House is the archive's loyalist file — the Franklin split, the 1776 arrest, and the only surviving royal governor's mansion.
Why this file matters
Proprietary House is the archive's loyalist file — the Proprietors' mansion, the Franklin family's break, and the arrest that ended colonial rule in New Jersey.
A governor's mansion keeps its dining room — the file's suggestion being that Proprietary House's hold is the fracture: the son who stayed loyal, the father who couldn't move him, and the house where the empire's family argument played out.
Proprietary House in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, is a historic proprietary governor's mansion, the only one from the original Thirteen Colonies still standing. Overseen by architect and builder John Edward Pryor, construction began in 1762 and was completed in 1764.
Proprietary HouseDocumented history
Completed in1764, the building served as a royal governor's residence, hotel, private mansion, retirement home, boarding house and museum. A house in Perth Amboy, New Jersey with this much documented history gives the dossier substance underneath the lore. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. 'Royal Governor's Mansion' documents the entry. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.
Verified historyProprietary House Association
Sources on file
- 01Royal Governor's MansionProprietary House Association · official site · A2
Field notes & open questions
Homepage still displays recurring Sunday/Wednesday schedule above closure notice; current closure takes precedence. Ghost-tour offering does not by itself substantiate a specific paranormal phenomenon.