Views: 318 Come for the View. Stay for the History. The Mr. Local History Project is honored to celebrate Washington Rock not only as a historic lookout used by General George Washington during the American Revolution, but as a remarkable… Read More »Washington Rock: 200 Million Years in the Making – 250 Years of American History
Views: 705 For generations, inns, houses, taverns, towns, and historic sites have proudly claimed that “George Washington Slept Here.” Some can prove it. Some can show Washington was there, but not that he spent the night. Others rely on stories… Read More »Did George Washington Really Sleep Here? It’s Time to Come Clean & Show the Marker
Views: 643 Preface to James Wilkinson’s Account of General Charles Lee’s Capture The following account comes from General James Wilkinson’s Memoirs of My Own Times, published in 1816, and offers a remarkable first-person description of the events surrounding the capture… Read More »Eyewitness Account of the 1776 Capture of General Charles Lee at Widow White’s Tavern
Views: 1,575 The “Ten Crucial Days” of the American Revolution began with Washington’s crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776. They continued through the victories at Trenton, the Battle of the Assunpink, and Princeton on January 3, 1777. In… Read More »Time To Honor 1776 March Across Jersey to Washington’s Delaware Christmas Crossing
Views: 759Washington Didn’t Build His Fortress. New Jersey Did. So we start by coining a phrase, one that defines what we think Washington knew all along. A geological fortress is not an artificial fort of stone walls, towers, and cannon.… Read More »Washington’s Rev War Fortress – It Was New Jersey Itself
Views: 662For decades, visitors to Jockey Hollow believed they were standing beside the burial ground of Continental soldiers who died during the terrible winter of 1779–1780. However, archaeological investigations found no human remains, and the National Park Service now believes… Read More »1780: The Missing Cemetery at the Basking Ridge Continental Army Hospital
Views: 826Commemorating the 247th Anniversary of the Wedding Heard ‘Round the ColoniesJuly 27, 1779 – July 27, 2026 July 27, 1779Basking Ridge’s Biggest Event – Kitty Stirling’s Wedding On July 27, 1779, the Revolutionary War was entering one of its… Read More »The Wedding Heard Round the Colonies: Lord Stirling, Washington & New Jersey’s Most Famous Revolutionary War Wedding
Views: 931 The 1766 Morgan–Hills Map of Somerset County Unlike most eighteenth-century maps that depict only towns and transportation routes, the Morgan–Hills map provides a remarkable snapshot of the county’s agricultural landscape by assigning numbered tracts to individual owners in… Read More »1766 Somerset County, New Jersey Map Tells So Many Stories
Views: 1,178What would have happened if General Charles Lee WASN’T captured in Basking Ridge?Join the Mr. Local History Project as we break down the history with this interesting conversation. America250 Update: Presentation – Sacking General Lee in Basking Ridge – What… Read More »Discussion: Sacking General Lee in Basking Ridge….But What if
Views: 1,722Military protocol in the eighteenth century generally called for armies to suspend major campaigning during the winter months. Harsh weather, poor roads, limited food supplies, and the difficulty of moving men, horses, artillery, and wagons made large-scale operations impractical.… Read More »Middlebrook’s 1778-1779 Encampment – 10,000 Troops and Bridgewater’s Legacy
Views: 1,814Everyone knows the story of Valley Forge. But it’s Jockey Hollow you need to remember. For generations, Americans have learned about George Washington’s Army suffering through the winter of 1777–1778 in Pennsylvania. Valley Forge has become synonymous with sacrifice,… Read More »That 1779/1780 Winter at Jockey Hollow and a Hut City
Views: 615Part of the Mr. Local History Rev War and Lord Stirling Series As we were researching another story, we came across this really interesting piece published in 1914 about one of the Revolutionary War’s greatest generals, William Alexander, also… Read More »Overlooked Heroines of the Revolutionary War – Sarah Livingston Alexander
Views: 24,540The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment, and on August 2, 1776, delegates began signing it. Jefferson drafted the statement between June 11 and 28, submitted drafts to Adams… Read More »Independence Day – Kudos to New Jersey Signers #jersey5
Views: 5,765RAIN or SHINE – EVERY July 4th at 10:30 am – Join friends and family on Independence Day as the Washington Camp Ground Association honors the American flag, the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, and the reading of… Read More »New Jersey’s Gift to America’s 250th – A July 4th Celebration You Must Experience
Views: 1,737It takes around two minutes and eighteen seconds to sing God Bless America. Mr. Local History took a trip to the “Field of Honor,” an annual tradition at the Jacobus Vanderveer House in Bedminster, New Jersey. Sit back, relax,… Read More »Take 2 Minutes and 18 Seconds to Celebrate America
