The Crosswicks Creek Site III is a historical
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...
in the vicinity of
Bordentown in
Burlington County and
Hamilton Township in
Mercer County, New Jersey
Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...
. It encompasses the remains of
Revolutionary War-era ships that were sunk in
Crosswicks Creek
Crosswicks Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties in central an ...
in 1778. The site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on November 26, 1990, for its significance in military and maritime history.
[
]
History
Many Continental ships were trapped in the Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
watershed above Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
following the capture of that city by the British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in 1777. Prior to departing the city in 1778, the British staged a raid to destroy ships that Continental and state forces had secreted in various waterways on May 8. A significant number of these were located in and around Bordentown, with two known to have been scuttled in Crosswicks Creek. These two wrecks were discovered by an historical archaeological survey in 1984.
See also
* Abbott Farm Historic District – also an archaeological site
References
External links
*
*
{{NRHP in Mercer County, New Jersey
Bordentown, New Jersey
Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Burlington County, New Jersey
National Register of Historic Places in Mercer County, New Jersey
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey