Uniting NJ through Heritage Tourism

Editor's Note: This article was first published in the October 2024 issue  of COMMERCE.

On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

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New Jersey is readying itself for that moment.

The anniversary provides the chance to tell the story of the state’s pivotal role in the struggle for American independence. Strategically located between New York and Philadelphia, New Jersey witnessed more conflict over a longer period than any other colony during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), hence why it’s often referred to as “the Crossroads of the American Revolution.”

To prepare for the anniversary and encourage heritage tourism, RevolutionNJ (RevNJ) has been established as a partnership between the New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC), a division of the New Jersey Department of State, and the nonprofit Crossroads of the American Revolution Association.

What is RevolutionNJ?

The partnership is unique, says Sara Cureton, Executive Director of the NJHC. RevolutionNJ was created by legislation in 2018, which tasked the NJHC to pick a nonprofit to partner with and plan activities and initiatives for the 2026 anniversary, and through 2033 (the eight-year length of the war), as well as investigate the establishment of a state visitor center.

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“Our arrangement is a little unusual, but it has had a huge benefit to New Jersey,” says Cureton. “Because we started with two existing organizations, we were able to move much quicker to get started on planning for this. So that's really been a big advantage.”

Cureton and Carrie Fellows, Executive Director of Crossroads of the American Revolution, attended a working session this July in Washington, DC, held for America250, led by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. The session brought together core Semiquincentennial planning stakeholders to share milestones and planning developments.

“We can tell you,” says Cureton, “state after state got up there to say, ‘our commission was just formed, we just had our first meeting.’”

“And we’ve been doing this for a few years now,” Fellows chimes in.

Through a series of initiatives that explore the history of the American Revolution, its context, and its legacy, RevNJ aims to spur diverse audiences statewide into embracing the value and relevance of New Jersey’s history.

“ We just see this as a tremendous opportunity for the state of New Jersey, which really lags behind the rest of the country and the amount of revenue we produce annually from heritage tourism,” says Fellows. “We are only bringing in about just under 7% of revenue from heritage tourism and the rest of the country is almost at 14%. So, we really want to raise up our heritage tourism sites and capture our own market share.”

Some of the preparation involved has included a visitor readiness and state assessment survey of about 150 historic sites around the state to rate their visitor readiness for 2026, which resulted in a list of recommendations to bring these sites up to snuff for 2026.

“A lot of those sites have used that data as leverage to go after grant funding and other sources of funding through their local county and state government as well as some federal sources,” says Fellows. “Also, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced in 2022, $25 million in capital investments in 10 key state-owned historic sites .”

“As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, it is important that our historic sites are prepared to welcome the hundreds of thousands of visitors that will undoubtably travel from around the world to witness these sites in person on such a momentous occasion,” Governor Murphy stated of the investment in the restoration of the Revolutionary War sites at the time.

The Six Goals of RevNJ

While promoting heritage tourism in NJ to increase its impact on economic and community development is a key goal, Cureton notes RevNJ has six goals.

Telling a diverse and inclusive story of the past in which all New Jerseys can see themselves represented is another core goal, one which the organization embraces with enthusiasm, notes Cureton. “That's another part of what we're doing here, to really try to paint in a picture of our past that's much more inclusive than maybe what I experienced in 1976 during the bicentennial.”

The remaining goals include:

• Encourage the growth of organizational capacity at New Jersey ’s history organizations to attract, engage, and serve visitors.
• Elevate the value placed on history education in K–12 schools and universities.
• Demonstrate how understanding the complexity of history helps us to respond to the present and prepare for the future.
• Increase public and private funding for history in New Jersey.

How NJ Businesses Can Get Involved

For NJ businesses of all sizes, RevNJ aims to make it easy to get involved in the 250 ^th anniversary through its Proud Partners initiative. And with the FIFA World Cup 26™ final in July 2026 coinciding with the Semiquincentennial, it’s really important for businesses to know is that this is going to be huge for New Jersey, says Cureton.

“There's a spot on our website where businesses can go and fill out an application form ,” she says, “and really what we're asking businesses to do, and all of our Proud Partners, is to embrace those goals. Think of ways that they can support those, that mission, and vision.

“So whether it's helping to us to promote what we're doing through their own communications, whether it's planning events at their own businesses that tie it to the 250th, maybe it's a promotion. There are lots of ways for businesses to get involved.”

“And there's no cost,” adds Fellows. “There's no cost for either businesses or communities to participate. We just want people to have a way that they can officially participate; they get to use the RevolutionNJ Proud Partner logo on their website and in their material.”

Whether small or large, the Proud Partner program presents businesses an opportunity to get creative with participation. For example, a ballet school could put on a performance about conflict. RevNJ itself has been piloting Tavern Talks — interactive programs where reenactors immerse participants in the past using questions to help them explore the past, as well as today’s community issues. The program is a partnership with New Jersey's microbrewery industry, Cureton notes. “We capitalize on the fact that taverns 250 years ago were where people went to debate the issues of the day. We bring in some very skilled interpreters in period costume to come into these microbreweries and really engage the patrons there in talking about some of those great issues — issues of taxation, of self-determination — all of these things that were hot topics in the American Revolutionary period and still resonate with us today.”

Another reason why RevNJ hopes businesses will join and support the celebrations, says Cureton: “we hear a lot about how our nation is so divided.” But what she found really inspiring, returning from the America250 gathering the federal commission hosted with almost all 50 states in a room together for two and a half days, was there was “such a spirit of collegiality and unity in that group of people from all around the nation, excited about this anniversary as a great opportunity to reconnect our communities, reconnect as fellow Americans, and reconnect with those founding ideals of the American Revolution of liberty, of justice, that pursuit of happiness.”

“We think businesses have a great opportunity to not only be involved in something that's going to promote New Jersey and it's unbelievably rich history, but also an initiative that brings people together — that brings our residents and visitors together,” she adds.

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