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Last year, New Jersey’s significance to the founding of our country was finally recognized by Congress. In October 2006 the President signed legislation designating the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area in New Jersey. Our National Heritage Area, one of only 37 in the nation, includes 213 cities and towns and 14 counties, stretching from Fort Lee in Bergen County to Red Bank Battlefield in Gloucester. Our heritage area holds the promise of preserving our historic landscapes and sites and far more. It invites us to protect our shared history and to celebrate and promote New Jersey’s pivotal role in the American Revolution.

The Crossroads of the American Revolution Association is the federally designated non-profit managing organization for our heritage area. It is the only statewide organization whose purpose is to establish a network of related historic resources, protected landscapes and sites, educational opportunities and events to depict the landscape of New Jersey during the American Revolution and to raise popular understanding of the historical significance of New Jersey’s Revolutionary War sites.

We will bring together residents, businesses and governments throughout the state to preserve the physical character and promote the historical significance of the Revolutionary War era in New Jersey. This network will bring recognition to our Revolutionary War historic sites and landscapes for the educational and recreational benefit of present and future generations. It can also serve as a model for additional state efforts to preserve, protect and promote all of New Jersey’s rich history.

New Jersey’s Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area can have significant, long-run economic impacts on our state. The legislation establishing the heritage area also authorized federal funding of up to $10 million over fifteen years. Although Congress has not yet appropriated any funds, when it does so these funds will be leveraged with a required match—dollar for dollar—from private and public sources. When this funding is in place it will enable all of us to create a management plan for the heritage area that will determine how funds will be spent

As we develop linked programmatic themes with our public and private partners, New Jersey’s urban and rural areas will reap the economic and cultural benefits that the restoration of historic sites along with the preservation of historic open spaces can bring. New Jersey can and will become an educational and tourist destination that will focus on our myriad histories, foremost among them, the founding of these United States—the world’s great experiment in representative government.

Crossroads of the American Revolution in New Jersey National Heritage Area Designated by the U. S. Congress

On September 29, 2006, the U.S. Congress officially designated the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area in New Jersey. When this legislation is signed by the President, New Jersey's pivotal role in the American Revolution will at last be nationally acknowledged.More>>