An effort to boost tourism at Revolutionary War sites in New Jersey is getting help from two of the biggest names in the state’s political world.
Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, both Democrats, met recently in Morristown to plan how to get the state ready for the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
New Jersey was the site of some of most important Revolutionary War battles and was also key to some of the strategic victories by Gen. George Washington, which turned the tide in favor of the colonies. But those sites are not well developed for tourism.
“This is the area where George Washington and his troops spent more time than anywhere else,” said Sherrill, of Montclair. “In fact, I often joke with (House Democratic) leader Hakeem Jeffries that the troops were really getting their butts handed to them in Brooklyn, but it was the New Jerseyans that turned [the British] back and turned the tide of the war.”
This is the area where George Washington and his troops spent more time than anywhere else.
In the runup to the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the country’s founding in 1976, New Jersey failed to get organized or seek funding for its important Revolutionary War sites. Pennsylvania received federal funds to establish Valley Forge as the pre-eminent Revolutionary War site for tourism, which is known today as the place where Washington’s ragtag army suffered through the winter, even though it faced much tougher winters in New Jersey.
“What we need to do is to really highlight some of the places here in New Jersey like Jockey Hollow, George Washington's winter encampment, one of the toughest winter encampments they had with 90-plus inches of snow,” Sherrill said.
The war's turning point is thought to have occurred when Washington’s troops rowed across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, and then surprised the British in Trenton and Princeton, winning key battles there.
Gov. Phil Murphy has invested $25 million in federal American Rescue Plan aid to begin work on improving 10 sites owned by the state. The work ranges from improving parking to creating informational displays or building replica models of cabins where the troops stayed.
“That's just what's needed for capital improvements at the sites that will help people who come have a better experience,” said Carrie Fellows, executive director of Crossroads of the American Revolution, a nonprofit organization that has been advocating for more investment in the state’s historic sites.
Now it appears that Booker and Sherrill will be working in Washington to find more resources for the project.
“It’s very hard for us to continue to bear fruits of this democracy without recognizing the roots of this democracy,” Booker said in a statement. “That is the important work of history. History is not about remembering the dusty past, it’s about understanding its relevance and importance and urgency to the present.”
