Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Tags
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Now here's a really cool event for Thanksgiving Eve.
Celebrate "Evacuation Day" with the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and history community activists on Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at seven sites in New Jersey where xenon light displays will reach into the sky to provide a modern day reenactment of the signal fires that burned 226 years ago to celebrate the evacuation of New York City by the defeated British army.
The beacon sites, which will actually stretch 108 miles from Princeton to Beacon, N.Y., closely replicate signal locations used by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
"These vital systems summoned the militia in both New Jersey and neighboring New York and warned residents of the approaching British Redcoats,'' said Cate Litvack, Crossroads Association director. "The types of beacons varied from tar barrels on top of poles, to pyramids, to wooden towers filled with dried grass or hay that could be ignited.''
The Twin Lights of Navesink in Highlands will participate by sending out a beam from the lighthouse. Collaborating with the Crossroads Association in the commemorative beacon lighting are: Morristown National Historical Park, the state Division of Parks and Forestry, the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Princeton Township and The Beacon Hill Club in Summit."We are also grateful to the Society of Colonial Wars in the state of New Jersey for their sponsorship of the beacon lighting event,'' Litvack said.
Here is where to see the lights from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.: Princeton Academy, Princeton Township; Washington Rock State Park, Green Brook; Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown; The Beacon Hill Club, Summit; South Mountain Reservation, Crest Drive, Maplewood; Ramapo State Forest, Oakland, and Twin Lights of Navesink, Atlantic Highlands.
In New York state from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Fort Montgomery State Historic Site, Cornwall-on-Hudson Landing, Boscobel Restoration, Constitution Island, Mount Beacon.
Litvack said New Jersey's landscape, people, and natural resources directly affected the course of America's struggle for independence. She said without the Ten Crucial Days – the victorious battles of Trenton and Princeton – victory would not likely have been achieved.
During the Revolutionary War, New Jersey was the setting for significant events and strategic conflicts: encampments in Morristown and Middlebrook as well as the Battle of Monmouth, the largest one-day artillery battle of the American Revolution. New Jersey is also home to two of Gen. George Washington's winter headquarters, the Ford Mansion in Morristown and the Wallace House in Somerville. The Arnold Tavern where Washington spent his first New Jersey winter in 1777 no longer exists, but is recognized on a bronze plaque on the Morristown Green.
"The historical significance of the locations highlights the importance of preserving New Jersey's historic resources of the American Revolution, both the buildings and the landscapes through both public and private efforts,'' Litvack said.
New Jersey's Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area was established by Congress in 2006 to recognize, preserve and interpret the nationally significant historical, cultural and natural resources in the state. The heritage area stretches from the heights of the Palisades at Fort Lee in Bergen County to the shores of the Delaware in Gloucester County. It includes 213 municipalities in 14 counties, 13 National Historic Landmarks and more than 250 indoor and outdoor spaces on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Crossroads of the American Revolution Association is the managing organization of the heritage area and is a non-profit corporation. For more on the Crossroads of the American Revolution Heritage Area, click here.
