New Jersey Trail Sites

Abraham Staats House

The Staats House, located in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, is an 18th-century Dutch Colonial home with strong ties to the Revolutionary War. Built by Abraham Staats, a prosperous landowner in the Raritan Valley, the home reflects the architectural style and domestic life of colonial New Jersey. With its broad gambrel roof, central hallway, and deep brick foundation, the Staats House has been carefully preserved to maintain its 18th-century character. Today, it is overseen by the Friends of Abraham Staats House, Inc., and serves as a historic site offering educational programs and public events that explore the region’s colonial and military past.

During the second Middlebrook Encampment of 1778–1779, the Staats House served as the headquarters of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Inspector General and Major General of the Continental Army. A former officer under Frederick the Great of Prussia, von Steuben used his military expertise to instill discipline and order in the Continental Army, authoring the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States—known as the “Blue Book.” While quartered at the Staats House from March to June 1779, von Steuben organized intensive troop drills and hosted a grand military review in May for French ambassador Conrad Alexander Gérard and Spanish agent Don Juan de Miralles. The review was attended by General George Washington and dozens of officers and guests, followed by a formal dinner on the Staats property. After departing in June 1779, von Steuben continued to play a vital role in the war, contributing to the Southern Campaign and helping demobilize the army after the victory at Yorktown.

Liberty Hall

The Battle of Connecticut Farms took place in June of 1780 and was part of Washington's defense of the second British invasion of New Jersey. Using the Watchung Mountains as a barrier to British movement, the Patriots repeatedly dulled the thrusts of both mercenary Hessian and British regular armies. Near the battle site stands Liberty Hall, the home of the governor of New Jersey at the time and later a member of the constitutional convention. 

Liberty Hall now houses a museum run by Kean University - the grounds and building contain exhibits on colonial life and the battle nearby.

Boxwood Hall

Boxwood Hall is a two-story, wood-frame building in the Georgian style. Built in the 1750’s, Boxwood Hall served as the residence of the Woodruff, Boudinot, Dayton, Spencer, and DeHart families. It is best known as the home of Jonathan Dayton, the youngest signer of the Constitution, and Elias Boudinot IV, President of the Continental Congress that ratified the Peace Treaty with Great Britain. Boxwood Hall also hosted notable guests including Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. From 1845 to 1855, the building operated as a Young Ladies’ Academy. In the 1880’s, Boxwood Hall became the Elizabeth Home for Aged Women. In 1938, Boxwood Hall was threatened with demolition; however, a group of citizens saved it by raising funds to purchase and deed the building to the State of New Jersey. Boxwood Hall underwent restoration in the early 1940’s, stripping away late nineteenth-century alterations. It was subsequently opened as a museum in 1947.

Buccleuch Mansion

Buccleuch Mansion played a vivid, tangible role in the Revolutionary War because of its location along key routes used by both British and Continental forces. Built in the 1730s by Anthony White, the house was occupied by British troops during the harsh winter of 1776–1777, leaving behind physical evidence of the conflict: saber and rifle marks still visible on its staircase and floors. After the British withdrew, the mansion became a gathering place for leading Patriot figures—George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Horatio Gates, Tadeusz Kościuszko, and John Hancock. Anthony Walton White, son of the original owner and born in the mansion in 1750, contributed to the Patriot cause as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army, serving as Washington's aide-de-camp in 1775 and later under the Marquis de Lafayette.

Elizabeth Courthouse and Revolutionary War Canon

Cast in Strasbourg in 1758, King Louis XV of France sent this gun to Canada to defend Quebec. When the city surrendered the following year, the British took the gun. The French recaptured it in April 1760, and the British seized it again that May. In the fall of 1775, the gun helped repel the Continental force led by General Richard Montgomery, who was mortally wounded while attempting to take Quebec. In June 1779, Sir Henry Clinton captured Stony Point; a month later, General Anthony Wayne retook the post and found this gun among the spoils. General Washington presented it to the Elizabethtown troops who had served as a reserve, and they brought it here soon afterward.

The Cannonball House

The Battle of Springfield took place in late June of 1780 as part of a second attempt by British forces to invade New Jersey and destroy the army of George Washington. Using the Watchung Mountains as a strategic position from which to stall British movement, Washington engaged with the enemy at Springfield and was able to stop their attempt on his supply garrison at Morristown. The Cannonball House was struck from the western side by, presumably, Patriot artillery. Today the town of Springfield has many Revolutionary War markers and exhibits maintained by local and state organizations 

alike.

Marker located on the Rahway River Bridge in honor of Col. Israel Angell.

At this location, the American army first encountered the British and Hessian army advancing from Connecticut Farms on June 23, 1780. Angell’s 2nd Rhode Island Regiment fought one of the most celebrated holding actions of the Revolutionary War, delaying a vastly superior British–Hessian force at the Rahway River bridges long enough for General Nathanael Greene to stabilize the American line. The 2nd Rhode Island held the bridge for more than 40 minutes, delivering disciplined volleys and inflicting heavy casualties. It was a key factor preventing the British from reaching the Hobart Gap and threatening Morristown.

Site of the First Academy of Newark - Burned by the British on January 25, 1780

The Academy was founded in 1774. In the winter of 1779–80, American troops used the academy’s rooms as barracks. On January 25, 1780, a British raiding force reached Newark across the frozen Hudson River waterways and burned the school, on the same night that raiders struck Caldwell’s Elizabethtown. Newark Academy belonged to the Presbyterian educational world of Alexander MacWhorter, a Princeton graduate and trustee. A marker in the former Washington Park, now Harriet Tubman Square, recalls the lost building. 

First Presbyterian Church, Burial Grounds and Elizabethtown Academy

The First Presbyterian Church, established on the site of the original meetinghouse around 1664, was one of the targets of British attacks on Elizabeth in January 1780. Pastor James Caldwell, known as the “Fighting Parson,” and many congregation members supported the Patriot cause. Tragically, Caldwell's wife, Hannah Ogden Caldwell, was killed by a British/Hessian soldier during the Battle of Connecticut Farms in 1780 — an event that shocked New Jersey and helped galvanize Patriot resistance, and Caldwell was killed a year and a half later. Both are buried in the cemetery alongside many other Revolutionary War veterans.

By the 1750s, the demand for and interest in secondary education led church leaders to establish a modest school called the "Academy," located about 200 yards from the church. Notable figures, including Aaron Burr,  Alexander Hamilton, and Supreme Court Justice Brokholt Livingston, were among the Academy's first pupils. On January 25, 1780, the Academy was raided and burned. The building that stands on the site today, built in 1917, recently reopened as a museum, cultural center, and community hub. 

Gabriel Daveis Tavern

Built in 1756, the Gabreil Daveis Tavern is an outstanding example of vernacular Georgian style. The tavern house was built to accommodate travelers headed east and west over the “Great Irish Roade” and watermen moving lumber and other products by way of the Timber Creek. The tavern was the primary center of communications for nearby residents in the early days of Gloucester Township, serving as the site for elections and town meetings from 1757-1770. The building ceased being a tavern in 1769 when Sarah Daveis, the widow of Gabreil, declined to renew the license. From this point forward the building became home to some of the Township’s most important Revolutionary War figures, Gabreil Daveis, Benjamin Pittfield, and George Payne. Today, the building serves as a museum. 

Hancock House

Built in 1734 by Quakers William and Sarah Hancock, the Hancock House is an important tangible link to Salem County's history and our country’s struggle for independence. After William’s death in 1762, the house passed to his son, William Jr., who succeeded him in the Assembly and became His Majesty’s Judge of the County Court of Salem. On March 20, 1778, the British attacked Hancock’s Bridge. Major John Graves Simcoe and 300 of his Queen’s Rangers surprised the militia at Hancock’s Bridge and attacked a nearby militia quartered in the Hancock House. Among the casualties was Judge William Hancock, who died several days later.

The exterior of the Hancock House is an outstanding example of the patterned brick houses that once dotted the landscape of Salem County, NJ. Modeled after the seventeenth-century building traditions of the Quakers’ English homeland, masons used variations in color and placement to create designs, dates, and initials. The initials of William and Sarah Hancock and the date that the house was built (1734) can be seen in the brickwork of the Hancock House.

The Hessian House, Millburn NJ

The Hessian House earned its name from the legend surrounding its role in the Battle of Springfield.  The name comes from the belief that two deserting Hessians sought refuge and work with the house's owners at the time. The Hessian House in Millburn, New Jersey, is one of the town’s oldest surviving structures—built around 1730. This house survived the burning of the town by the retreating British. Millburn (then part of Springfield Township) lay directly in the path of the British and Hessian advance on June 23, 1780, during the Battle of Springfield, the war's last major northern battle. The historic house is now home to the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, which purchased it in 2007.

Remains of Col. John Taylor's Grist Mill, built circa 1760.

Colonel John Taylor, an Englishman by birth, served in the Revolution with the 4th Hunterdon Militia and eventually rose to the rank of General. This mill played an important role in the Revolution as a grain supplier for Washington’s Army. The mill was once a 3-story fieldstone-and-frame gristmill supplied by water from Rockaway Creek. It operated until 1930. An earthquake damaged the 264-year-old mill in 2024.

Jones Tavern, established in 1760. Recruiting station for the Hunterdon County militia.

Owned by Thomas Jones in 1760, the tavern became a center of revolutionary activity and a militia recruiting station, with Jones rising to the rank of Captain.  Captain Jones helped Daniel Bray of Amwell gather and hide the Durham boats that General George Washington later used to cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to Trenton in 1776. On June 24, 1776, loyalists armed with clubs raided the tavern house and beat Jones, threatened his family and stole money from the tavern bar. After signing, copies of the Declaration of Independence were sent to be read to the populace, and it was read from the balcony of Jones Tavern.

The high-water mark of the invading British army during the Battle of Springfield.

This marker denotes the high-water mark of the invading British army during the Battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780. After a punishing retreat, the British never entered New Jersey again in force. After the battle, the British shifted their focus to the southern states.

Looking southeast at the southwestern section of Gutzon Borglum's Wars of America statue in Military Park.

Laid out in 1666 by Puritan settlers led by Robert Treat as the “Middle Commons,” the park served as a militia training ground and was used for musters and drills throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Served as a troop training site during the French and Indian War. Continental Army officers camped here; Washington’s forces passed through Newark during the 1776 retreat. The park was used again to recruit soldiers during the Civil War and World War I. 

A large bronze and granite sculpture created by Gutzon Borglum, the same artist behind Mount Rushmore, features 42 figures and 2 horses, representing Americans from various conflicts up to World War I. Borglum described the park's layout as a "great spearhead," with a Tudor sword symbolizing the nation’s call to arms.

Elizabeth Minuteman Monument

At this spot, at daybreak on June 7, 1780, the fighting began as British forces moved toward Springfield. Here fell General Stirling, leading the advancing column. On June 8, after the British retreated from Springfield, General Hand attacked here and drove back the 22nd Regt. to the British main position at the point. Skirmishing on this ground continued until the British retreat to Staten Island on June 23rd. 

This statue commemorates the people behind the campaign, including Elias Dayton’s soldiers and the Hunterdon men associated with Abraham Bonnell. Black servicemen such as Hunterdon militiaman Jacob Francis belong within this history of New Jersey’s defense. 

The Nathaniel Bonnell House was built in 1682.

The Bonnell House is the oldest house in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and one of the oldest residences in the state. It stood on this site in 1682 and was likely built years earlier. The house represents the carpentry skills of Nathaniel Bonnell, a Huguenot originally from New Haven, Connecticut. He came to Elizabeth about 1664 and was one of the original settlers and a member of the incorporating organization, the Elizabeth Associates. Between 1670 and 1685, Bonnell and his wife Elizabeth (nee Whitehead) raised seven children here. The family worked several farms in the environs, one of which in Connecticut Farms (now Union, NJ) was left to his son and namesake, Nathaniel.

New Jersey Brigade Area at Morristown National Historic Park

When the New Jersey troops arrived in Jockey Hollow in mid-December, no suitable campsite was available. Instead, the troops moved a few miles south of Jockey Hollow and camped on a hillside near Ayer's iron forge. The soldiers built their log cabins and moved into them by Christmas Day. The Jersey troops camped here from December 1779 until April, when they moved into huts in Jockey Hollow that had been vacated by the Maryland Brigade. Today, interpretive signs mark the site of the New Jersey Brigade encampment. The park maintains a museum and library collection related to the encampment. A hiking trail leads there, accessible from the New Jersey Brigade parking area at the Cross Estate. The buildings in the New Jersey Brigade area, including the Cross Estate, are not open to the public.

Potter's Tavern

Colonial taverns were crucial hubs for the Revolution, serving as gathering places where travelers exchanged news from across the colonies and locals engaged in political discussions. In December 1775, local townspeople formed an association and submitted anonymous letters; the paper forcefully argued for complete separation from Great Britain under penalty of treason, and the newspaper The Plain Dealer, considered the first regular newspaper in New Jersey, was published here. On August 7th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read aloud right outside the tavern.

Princeton Battle Monument

This 50-foot Beaux-Arts limestone relief sculpture monument commemorates the January 3, 1777, Battle of Princeton, depicts Liberty inspiring General Washington as he leads his troops into battle, and the death of Washington's close friend,  General Hugh Mercer. The seals of the United States and the original thirteen states appear on the sides of the Monument, and Andrew Fleming West composed the inscription on the back. The Princeton Battle Monument was completed in 1922 and dedicated the same year by President Warren G. Harding on June 9.

Ringwood Manor Iron Complex Waterwheel

During the Revolutionary War, Ringwood Ironworks produced arms and equipment for the Continental Army. The complex's iron mines, furnaces, forges, and stamping mills supplied many of the American Revolutionary Army's needs. At the time, Robert Erskine supervised it. Erskine was born in Scotland in 1735 and immigrated to New Jersey in 1771, when he began managing Ringwood Ironworks. General George Washington visited Ringwood several times during the Revolutionary War, most notably for the Pompton Mutiny —also called the Federal Hill Rebellion—a brief but serious revolt by about 300 New Jersey Continental soldiers on January 20, 1781.

St. John's Episcopal Church, Elizabeth, NJ

Jonathan Dayton, a soldier of the New Jersey Line and later a signer of the Constitution, is buried at Saint John’s. His father, Elias, commanded the 3rd New Jersey Regiment, placing the Dayton family directly within the military community that defended the region in 1780. The churchyard also recalls John DeHart, a delegate to the Continental Congress. Visiting Saint John’s alongside Caldwell’s Presbyterian church broadens the religious picture of Elizabethtown. Allegiance could divide neighbors and congregations, and an Anglican background did not determine every individual’s political choice. The present Gothic church dates to after the Revolution, while the burial ground preserves the older community’s connections.

Solitude House, the superintendent of the Union Iron Works' home.

The Germanic-style stone home, built in 1712, was part of a 10,000-acre parcel that later became part of the Union Iron Works. William Allen and Joseph Turner established the Union Iron Works to produce horseshoes, farm implements, and chimney firebacks; it produced 500 to 1,000 tons of iron per year. During the Revolutionary War, the ironworks became vital to the military effort because it produced items such as cannonballs and rifle barrels. Two Loyalists were imprisoned at Solitude House: John Penn, Pennsylvania's last royal governor, and his Chief Justice, Benjamin Chew. They remained here for seven months beginning in 1777. Revolutionary War figures who visited Solitude House include George and Martha Washington, General Lafayette, Colonel Charles Stewart, and Aaron Burr.

Springfield Presbyterian Church

The meetinghouse at this site was burned during the Battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780. It is also the setting of the famous tradition in which James Caldwell supplied Isaac Watts hymnbooks as musket wadding and urged soldiers to give the enemy "Watts."  The Presbyterian Church's cemetery, located across Church Mall from the church, contains the graves of at least thirty-one Revolutionary War soldiers. A plaque at the gate pays tribute to "the heroic service performed at the Battle of Springfield, during the war for American Independence by the soldiers whose remains are resting within this sacred tract."

A statue of a Revolutionary War militia soldier honors the 500 New Jersey militia who fought and ultimately repelled a force of 6,000 British troops during the battle.

The Swift Sure Stage Line went from Philadelphia to New York, stopping at the Stage House Inn.

The old center section of the Stage House dates to about 1737. Its roadside marker recalls innkeeper Recompense Stanbery raising a troop of Jersey Blues at a Liberty Pole in front of the inn. Here, the public house became a recruiting ground, and the pole made political allegiance visible in the village. The tavern’s history reports that General Marquis de Lafayette spent time here.

Informational kiosk in Taylor Park

The Forgotten Victory Trail kiosk at Taylor Park introduces the Connecticut Farms and Springfield campaign and the nearby Millburn battle sites. From here, visitors can connect the Vauxhall crossing, the advance along Millburn Avenue, and the stand near the present town hall. 

The Forgotten Victory Trail is a new, still‑developing Revolutionary War heritage trail in New Jersey that highlights the June 1780 British invasion and the battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield—the last major British offensive in the northern theater. These battles halted the invasion—hence the term“Forgotten Victory.”

Site of the Battle of Short Hills, June 25, 1777.

The Battle of Short Hills, fought on June 26, 1777, was a significant engagement in central New Jersey. In this battle, Lord Stirling commanded a Continental force of 2,200 men and skirmished with a much larger British column led by General William Howe and Lord Cornwallis. Although Stirling was ultimately forced to retreat, his resistance provided George Washington with crucial time to withdraw safely into the Watchung Mountains. This maneuver denied Howe the open-field engagement he sought. Although the British won a tactical victory, the Americans achieved strategic success by preserving their army and thwarting Howe's attempt to trap Washington.

The Battle of Short Hills Monument consists of a stone tower topped by a Revolutionary War cannon. Each side of the monument features a panel telling the story of the battle. The panels also include a map of the battle area, a picture of Lord Stirling on horseback, and wounded soldiers being evacuated in wagons after the battle.

The Hermitage

The Hermitage played a role in the Revolutionary War, standing at the center of a region torn between Patriot and Loyalist control. During the conflict, the home was managed by Theodosia Prevost, wife of British officer James Marcus Prevost, who remained away on military duty. Despite her Loyalist ties, Theodosia kept the property safe through diplomacy and resourcefulness as Bergen County became one of the war’s most contested corridors, with raids, skirmishes, and troop movements from both sides passing through the area. In July 1778, she invited General George Washington and his officers to stay at the Hermitage after the Battle of Monmouth; Washington accepted and stayed for four days. The house became a gathering point for notable figures including James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette, William Paterson, and Aaron Burr, who later married Theodosia at the Hermitage in 1782.

Forgotten Victory Trail kiosk in Veterans Memorial Honor Roll Park

The Forgotten Victory Trail kiosk brings the June 1780 campaign into a public space already dedicated to military remembrance. Near the church and the roads through old Connecticut Farms, it provides an orientation point for the battle, Hannah Caldwell’s death, and the resistance that continued toward Springfield. The story here includes Continental soldiers, local and county militia, Black servicemen, and civilians caught between advancing armies. Visitors can use the kiosk to connect the surrounding streets to the historic village, then continue to the church and Caldwell Parsonage. The park also gives the community a place to explain why these events remain part of Union’s identity.

Plaque near the Vauxhall Bridge on Vauxhall Road 

New Jersey militia and Dragoons under Colonel “Light Horse” Harry Lee, Colonel Matthias Ogden, and Captain George Walker delayed the British and Hessian army under Knyphausen as it crossed the Rahway River at this site during the Battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780.

Christopher Vought House

In 1759, Christoffel Vought purchased 285 acres near the Union Iron Works and built this stone house. During the War for Independence, the Voughts remained loyal British Americans. On June 24, 1776, John Vought and Joseph Lee (from the nearby Union Iron Works) led dozens of men to join the New Jersey Volunteers, a Loyalist regiment fighting alongside British regulars, and attacked the home and tavern of Captain Thomas Jones. Vought and the other Loyalists beat Jones and "plundered and robbed the house." After arrest and imprisonment, the Vought family relocated to Nova Scotia. 

The Vought House is a rare surviving example of an 18th‑century German‑American Loyalist farmstead, notable for its wattle‑and‑daub construction, geometric plaster ceilings, and its role in the Revolutionary War

William Trent House

The William Trent House is an excellent example of an early Georgian house, built in 1719 as the summer home of William Trent, a wealthy Philadelphia-based shipping merchant. The William Trent House was strategically significant in the Revolutionary War as it sat at the Falls of the Delaware, a key river crossing in Trenton. Hessian troops occupied it before Washington’s attack in December 1776, Continental artillery fired on it, and it later served as an encampment site for American and French forces marching to Yorktown in 1781. 

In 1778, Colonel John Cox, a Patriot and deputy quartermaster general, bought the property. Under Cox, the estate—renamed Bloomsbury—became a staging ground for Continental and French forces. The site lies along the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.