Plans for New Jersey’s 250th Anniversary include Somerset County Going Big to Back Local history in Central New Jersey
2026 marks 250 years of American Independence, and Somerset County is gearing up to participate in the national celebration. And YES, General Washington spent more time in New Jersey than any other state of the American colonies during the Revolution.
Some great handouts are available, including a trip guide and a Somerset County passport (no ID required).
New Jersey played a major part in the Revolutionary War, and Somerset County was at the heart of it! Some have even said that George Washington spent more time in Somerset County and New Jersey than in any other state during the War.
On April 13, 1777, 4,000 British and Hessian troops surprised a garrison of 500 American troops and briefly took control of what is today the Borough of Bound Brook. Approximately 30 American troops were killed, and a larger number were captured, in a British victory that fell short of its strategic objectives. The site’s stone arch bridge, built as early as 1731, provided cover to Hessian attackers who were “exposed to a murderous fire” from the American defenders, in the words of a Hessian officer.
The Bound Brook Battlefield purchase announcement was one of five major announcements by Somerset County at the 2023 Middlebrook Symposium, organized by several major history nonprofits to educate the public about the two Revolutionary War encampments in Somerset County, and made possible by funds from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission, a partner of the New Jersey Historical Commission. Those announcements include:
Restoration and archaeology at the Somerset County Park Commission’s Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge, to protect the mansion on the property owned by Elias Boudinot, first President of the Congress following the Revolution, and to interpret the home site of General William Alexander, better known as Lord Stirling.
New investments will be made in the Somerset County Park Commission’s Washington Valley Park in Bridgewater to tell better the story of the Middlebrook encampments of 1777 and 1778-1779, adjacent to the famed “Chimney Rock” on Chimney Rock Road.
A new volunteer docent program funded by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission will enable Somerset County’s Five Generals Houses, which were used during the Middlebrook Encampment by Generals Washington, Baron von Steuben, Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, and William Alexander (Lord Stirling).
Finally, the fifth update will be a new Revolutionary War interpretive plan for Somerset County’s major Revolutionary War sites, including the entire historic Borough of Millstone.
Additional information about Somerset County’s preparations for the 250th Anniversary is available on the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage website.
The property also contains an 18th-century stone arch bridge considered among the country’s oldest.
“Our vision is to develop this property into a public park that would connect to Somerset County’s ‘Raritan River Greenway,’ our long-term walking and biking trail initiative,” said Somerset County Commissioner Director Shanel Y. Robinson. “We will partner with Middlesex County to acquire the property and begin to restore, maintain, and interpret the battlefield in time for the 250th anniversary of the nation in 2026.”
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Middlebrook Symposium 2023:
Washington’s Middlebrook Cantonment of the Revolutionary War
Saturday, October 28, 2023, at 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM – Raritan Valley Community College
- Middlebrook 101: “George Washington Remembers Middlebrook” –David Emerson portrays the great general.
- Jim Stempel – Author of The Enemy Harassed: Washington’s New Jersey Campaign of 1777 – How the Continentals and militia battled the British in small-scale actions.
- Arthur Lefkowitz – Author of George Washington’s Revenge – Washington keeps the Army mobile, relies on surprise and deception, and reconceives the War.
- Robert Mayers – Author of Middlebrook: The Revolutionary Encampment That Saved America – Where the raw Continental Army matured into a cohesive fighting power.
- Dominick Mazzagetti – Author of Charles Lee: Self Before Country – What role did Charles Lee play in Central New Jersey?
- Roger Williams, moderator of the Authors Round Table
Sponsoring organizations: The County of Somerset – Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission – The Heritage Trail Association, Inc. — Friends of Abraham Staats House – Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House – Somerset County Historical Society – Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Association – Friends of Bridgewater history – Wallace House State Historic Site – Washington Camp Ground Association – Raritan Valley Community College – New Jersey Society, Sons of the American Revolution