Not many know about Timbuctoo — a community in Westampton Township in Burlington County settled by formerly enslaved African Americans in the 1800s.
Today, a Methodist Episcopal African Church from that era and a cemetery with gravestones belonging to Black soldiers who fought in the Civil War are among the few remnants left of the forgotten town.
But soon, Timbuctoo and its rich history will be highlighted and a historical marker will be placed there along with 32 other sites in New Jersey as the state prepares to launch its Black Heritage Trail this fall.
“I am absolutely elated that we will join these compelling organizations in this innovative effort to promote this important local history in our region,” Guy Weston, manager of the Timbuctoo Historical Society, said in a statement.
The New Jersey Historical Commission unanimously approved 32 locations and places to be featured on the Black Heritage Trail. These sites, each significant to Black history in the state, will be the first to receive markers as part of the initiative. (See the complete list of sites below).
Sites on the list include the Mount Zion AME Church in Skillman in Somerset County, the Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey in Cape May and Chicken Bone Beach in Atlantic City. Some selections are not physical locations but places that speak to local Black history, including Princeton and the significant role of African American soldiers during a Revolutionary War battle in the town.
In 2022, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill directing the state Historical Commission to create a Black Heritage Trail highlighting Black cultural sites using historical markers and a “trail-like path.” The bill allocated $1 million in taxpayer funds to support the project.
“The Black Heritage Trail will serve an important role in connecting our state’s residents and visitors with the complex histories of African Americans in New Jersey,” Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way said in a statement.
The initiative builds on a virtual trail launched in 2021 by the New Jersey Black Heritage Foundation. The new trail will take those efforts a step further by placing markers at historical sites.
The Historical Commission selected the sites after holding extensive public listening sessions involving dozens of people and gathering input on what should be included on the trail.
Officials said more sites will be added in the coming application rounds.
In this first round, at least one marker will be placed in 15 counties throughout the state, with some like Mercer and Camden having multiple sites.
The markers will be “geographically, thematically and temporally, diverse” and have QR codes to guide visitors online to access more information about the site, programming and augmented reality opportunities, officials said.
Organizations with that were not selected in this round will have the opportunity to resubmit their applications for consideration and new, additional submissions can be nominated in the future, Noelle Lorraine Williams, director of the Historical Commission’s African American History Program, said in a statement.
“This is just the beginning for the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail,” she said. “We plan to hold nomination rounds on a regular basis for the foreseeable future.”
The 32 Black Heritage Trail sites are:
Atlantic County
Chicken Bone Beach in Atlantic City
Bergen County
Cleveland School Sit-Ins in Englewood
Burlington County
Bethlehem AME Church, Rev. Jeremiah Pierce and a Civil Rights milestone in Burlington
Historic Timbuctoo in Westhampton Township
Dr. James Still’s Office (1855) in Medford
Camden County
Kaighn Avenue Baptist Church in Camden
Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton in Camden
Historic African American Borough of Lawnside in Lawnnside
The Point in Haddonfield
Cape May County
Macedonia Baptist Church of Cape May New Jersey/Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey in Cape May
Franklin Street School in Cape May
Cumberland County
Bivalve, Shellpile and Maurice River in Port Norris
Essex County
Site of East Orange Freedom Schools (1905-1906) in East Orange
Montclair Young Women’s Christian Association
Mercer County
“In Graves of Their Own”: Trenton’s Black Community Preserves Its History in Trenton
Black Soldiers at Washington Crossing in Trenton
Enslavement at the Falls of the Delaware in the 1720s in Trenton
626 Perry Street in Trenton
Black Soldiers at Princeton Battlefield in Princeton
Middlesex County
The Birthplace of Thomas Mundy Peterson, first African American to vote in a U.S. election, in Metuchen
Monmouth County
William J. “Count” Basie and the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank
T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank
Turf Club in Asbury Park
Historic Cedar View Cemetery in Lincroft
U.S. Army Black Brain Center in Wall Township
Morris County
The Madison Barber Shop Protests in Madison
Passaic County
James H. Penn: A Life of Triumph in Passaic
Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson
Ocean County
Manitou Park School in Berkeley Township
Somerset County
Mount Zion AME Church in Skillman
Union County
Shady Rest Country Club: “A Place for Us” in Scotch Plains
Caesar (1702-1806) in Plainfield
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Nyah Marshall may be reached at Nmarshall@njadvancemedia.com.