Five Best Historic Sites In NJ

Five Best Historic sites in NJ

When you think of New Jersey, you may think of its Shore points or the farms which are long disappearing, but New Jersey has some of the best Historic sites. Some of these are State Parks and some are just fantastic historical sites. They are worth seeing and exploring. Here are the five best Historic sites in NJ.

Ringwood State Park

This is an awesome park with 4000 acres, located in PassaicCounty and established in 1918. This Park is a great place to visit with lots of places if you want to hike or bike.

Ringwood Manor is one of the main attractions at the RingwoodState Park. This mansion is said to be haunted. It has been said that there have been sightings on the grounds as well. Don't let that put an eerie light on this State Park. The view from the lake to the manor is just amazing and you may even see a swan or two. The lake has a nice size water fall, with a stream running for as far as you can see. This is one park you don't want to miss seeing. This is one park you want to capture on film to remember.

Historic Cold Spring Village Cape May NJ

Located in Cape May, NJ, most of the historic buildings have been relocated from other areas in Cape May and other areas in CumberlandCounty to represent this village.

This village is amazing in that it is set up in a working manner. Walking through this historic village you can learn the old time trades of the people in the late 1700's – mid 1800's. This village consists of 22 acres of pure historical fun. You can actually watch and learn from the "villagers" as they show you what their average day consists of.

There are hands on projects for kids to do as well as plenty of open space to play.

There is a restaurant, ice cream parlor and a bakery available on site for your convenience.

They do re-enactments and encampments at this location on occasion. These are usually scheduled events on their calendar so why not plan to visit during these events.

Historic Batsto Village

Batsto is a large village located in WhartonStateForest. During the iron and glass making eras of New Jersey in the 1700's, this village was a continual working village.

One of the major sites at Batsto is the huge historic mansion. This mansion has 32 rooms and was occupied by the Ironmaster during the prosperous iron years of New Jersey. You can tour this mansion for a very small fee.

Other buildings of interest at Batsto are the row of village homes, general store, Saw Mill, Post office, Blacksmith shop, church, and the beautiful lake. There are vast amount of trails at this State Park, so it's best to wear comfortable shoes. The Park is breathtaking and the beauty of it is something you will never grow tired of.

You can schedule a tour or just wonder the park on your own. Canoeing is allowed on the lake and there are canoe tours as well.

Ocean Grove

Ocean Grove was discovered by a preacher by the name of William Osborn. His main idea was to establish this town as a Christian town for camp meetings. A group of ministers and layman purchased land to make camps for church and prayer meetings.

The Camp meetings are still held on the local boardwalk in Ocean Grove and the town still holds its history from how it all began long ago.

This town even today is a top resort withstanding its Christian heritage.

Washington Crossing State Park

This state park is located in MercerCounty on the Delaware River. This is the same river that George Washington crossed in 1776. This park has over 1300 acres of beauty. There are so many sites to see in this park such as museums, like Swan Historical Foundation, which houses many revolutionary artifacts. The Johnson Ferry House is open to visitors as well. Garret Johnson was the original owner of this farm and he had a ferry service at this location to cross the WashingtonRiver. WashingtonCrossingState Park is a great place to have a picnic and you can hike and even go horseback riding. There are camping sites located at this state park. The walk across the Washington's CrossingBridge alone is quite a hike. This is a very lovely place to visit or even stay for a while.

There are lots of other State Parks and unique places to visit in NJ, but these are in my opinion the best Historic Sites in NJ.