George Washington slept here
SUSSEX COUNTY Web designer Al Frazza is a New Jersey history aficionado. He's especially interested in the Revolution, a war people tend to think about a lot this time of year. Frazza's site RevolutionaryWarNewJersey.com is a catalog of places the war touched in this state and a trip to his site affords visitors an opportunity to see just how big a part New Jersey played in the Revolution.
As Frazza says on his site: he offers a "detailed list of Revolutionary War historic sites...everything from major battlefield sites to small roadside markers and monuments."
History buffs can find the historic sites and markers in their towns and use the site to plan, as Frazza suggests, day trips to other parts of the state.
Locally, Sussex County residents can take a trip to The Muckshaw Ponds Preserve in Andover, where infamous British Loyalist James Moody hid in a network of caves in between attacks on farms and staging a jail break of British soldiers in the Newton prison.
Or walk the same trail in Layton where American regiments marched and camped on their way to meet General George Washington in 1776.
Sussex County also has many well preserved cemeteries that serve as a resting place for Revolutionary War soldiers. Old mine road in Sandyston is home to three of them: Hainesville, Mettler and Minisink/Westbrook cemeteries, all of which seem as if they were untouched by time.
The Hamburg Baptist Cemetery has Revolutionary war veterans' graves, which the local chapter of the DAR has recently helped to upgrade.
How it began In 2009, Frazza, 43, and in the web design field for over a decade, began with the goal of cataloging Revolutionary War related sites, statues, trails and museums in all 21 of New Jersey's counties. He has documented and photographed over 500 locations, all of which can now be found on his site.
"I'm a lifelong New Jersey resident, and found many people were not aware of what happened in this state during the Revolutionary War," said Frazza.
"I want to show people that this happened here, and there's a direct connection we have to the people of that time. They lived, worked, hoped and dreamed right in the same spots where we walk everyday."
Frazza's project took countless hours of mapping, researching, reading and driving, all done in the hope that his site will help others take a journey back to the past.
"I want to help people plan their trip. I've spent all this time tracking places down and getting lost a million times," he laughs, "and with thousands of people using the Web site every month, I'd like to think I made it easier for them to go out and experience them."
Sussex County Revolutionary War Sites
Andover Iron Works at Andover Iron Master's Mansion
Main St (Rte. 206) Andover Furnace Marker
Main St (Rte. 206) Muckshaw Ponds Preserve
Entrances to the trail on Rt. 206,
and on Fredon-Springdale Rd. Byram Township
Waterloo Village Waterloo Road
Currently Closed Hamburg Joseph Sharp's Iron Works
Gingerbread Castle Road Hampton Township
Unknown Soldier Monument Cherry Lane
Hardyston Township North Hardyston Cemetery
Route 94 near North Church Rd. Continental Army Encampment
Route 94 and Beaver Run Road Layton
Van Campen Inn Old Mine Road Military Trail
Old Mine Road Old Mine Road Historic Marker
Old Mine Road Montague Minisink Church Cemetery
Old Mine Road Newton Thomas Anderson House
62 Main St. Old Newton Burial Ground
Main Street near Park Place Moody's Raids Marker
Dennis Branch of the Newton Library
101 Main St. Sussex County Court House
3 High St. Sandyston Mettler Cemetery
Old Mine Rd. Minisink/Westbrook Cemetery
Old Mine Rd. Hainseville Cemetery
Cemetery Road Wantage Old Clove Church Cemetery
Route 23, near American Way Dar Van Bunschooten Museum
1097 Route 23 Kimber Fort Route 284