- Open selected Saturdays from 11am-4pm
- Open during Bordentown City festivals and specialty events
- See website for details
- Public events, exhibitions, and lectures hosted throughout the year
- Some events in accordance with annual Bordentown City festivals and events, such as May's Street Fair and October's Cranberry Festival
- See website for details
- Free on-street parking for a maximum of three hours
- Wheelchair accessible site
- Restrooms
- Free
Bordentown Historical Society
302 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown, NJ 08505
609-298-1740
The Bordentown Historical Society is located in the center of Bordentown in a 1740 Friends Meeting House. Most of the town is listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The district features the Francis Hopkinson House, home of one of the five signers of the Declaration of Independence who signed for New Jersey, which is registered as a National Historic Landmark. The homes of Thomas Paine, sculptress Patience Wright, artist Susan Waters, and Century magazine editor, Richard Watson Gilder, still stand as well. There is also a one-room schoolhouse where Clara Barton (founder of the American Red Cross) taught as a teacher from 1852-1854. This structure is now a historic site dedicated to her achievements and early education in New Jersey. It is currently open by appointment through the Bordentown Historical Society. The Point Breeze Historic District, located on Park Street, encompasses the former estate of King Joseph Bonaparte, the oldest sibling of Emperor Napoleon. The gardener's house, the only existing structure from Joseph's residency from 1816-1839, is now a historic site and open to the public.
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
- Explore the 1740s Meetinghouse that has been preserved and restored throughout the centuries
- Pick up a souvenir at the Historical Society Museum’s gift shop
- Walk to any of the taverns, restaurants, or dessert shops in Historic Bordentown City
- Explore the nearby Delaware River Heritage Trail with launching points for local and regional boating, hiking, biking, canoeing, and kayaking
- Check out over 25 monuments, plaques, and interpretive signs in Bordentown listed on the NJ Women’s Heritage Trail and Delaware River Heritage Trail
Journey through Jersey strives to have the most up-to-date information, but always check with the site itself before planning a visit.
