To adapt Paul Revere’s famous mantra: The 250th Anniversary of American Independence is coming.
But I wonder whether building warehouses on Revolutionary War land in Upper Freehold Township is really the best way to honor our heritage and the American patriots who took the brave steps toward freedom on that sacred ground.
George Washington must be turning over in his grave.
The father of our country would certainly want to know why any local government or developer would choose to desecrate the land related to the American Revolution, on the road to the Battle of Monmouth
But that is the proposal from Active Acquisitions, a real estate development firm: Nearly 500,000 square feet of two mega warehouses are planned for Old York Road in Upper Freehold, where they would destroy nearly 60 acres of farmland that has been in use for over two centuries – a permanent stain on the historic 24-mile route known as the Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Scenic Byway.
Even if the developer paints We Love The American Revolution across the walls of these warehouses, it would not be celebrated by Allentown and Upper Freehold residents, who know what’s coming next. None of it is good: This project will add thousands of cars and trucks weekly, more flooding, higher taxes to pay for expanded services, and more diesel exhaust fumes from trucks rolling up to the warehouses’ over 80 loading docks.
I am part of
the effort to resist this project, though my perspective is historical – something that is given little acknowledgement by the developer’s attorneys or archaeology experts.
We need to learn this much: Washington ordered his Continental Army to intercept British troops on this land, where the invaders were encamped on June 24, 1778.
On June 28, 1778, these forces joined with other British and American combatants to fight in the Battle of Monmouth in Monmouth Courthouse. This record can be found in Library of Congress Records, the Papers of George Washington, and Founders’ Online archive.
The British Encampment was part of a pivotal moment in our history. Washington informed his military team that there were two columns of British marching that day, one towards “Allen Town” and the other towards Imlaystown, both in Upper Freehold. General William Maxwell, of Scotch-Irish descent, led the New Jersey brigade, was already near the British with 1,200 troops. General Philemon Dickinson – another brigadier general of the New Jersey militia -- reported that another 1,200 troops were “hovering on their flanks & rear and obstructing their march.”
Washington asked his gathered leaders for their opinions on what should be done. Let me use a modern term: He was “obsessed,” as evidenced by almost twenty documents, letters, orders, and communications between the commander in chief and his top generals about the British Encampment.
He asked his generals this fateful question: “…Should we do it, by immediately making a general attack upon the Enemy, by attempting a partial one, or by taking such a position, if it can be done, as may oblige them to attack us?”
The recorded answer: “A detachment of fifteen hundred men to be immediately sent to act as occasion may serve, on the enemy’s left flank and rear, in conjunction with the other Continental troops and militia, which are already hanging around them.”
At least two skirmishes occurred between the Americans and British upon the encampment’s moving from Allentown on June 25. The British continued their retreat from Philadelphia by leaving Allentown, with various American forces tracking their movements and headed on Shrewsbury Road to what would become ultimately the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778.
Now, the people of Allentown and Upper Freehold are playing a game of hide-and-seek with the Upper Freehold Planning Board and the developer when it comes to documents, history, and transparency.
How can a township that prides itself on history – “The Heartland of New Jersey” – invite the construction of warehouses that will destroy historic land? We await the negotiation outcomes by the Monmouth County Commissioners to
preserve the land.
Sue Kozel is a historian and former vice chair of the Upper Freehold Historic Scenic Byway Committee.
