South Jersey History
Hop on any road. Turn left. Or right. Or just keep going
straight. With hundreds of historic homes and attractions
throughout the region, no matter where you are, millions of
years of history -- yes, millions -- are nearby.
South Jersey's place in history began, oh, about 80 million
years ago in the Cretaceous period when a Hadrosaurus laid
down one day and never got up again. Fast forward to one
fine day in 1858 when William Foulke was digging around in
Haddonfield and hit upon that poor, forlorn dinosaur. It was
the discovery of the century -- the world's first nearly
complete dinosaur skeleton – which shook up the scientific
world and the way it looked at the prehistoric creatures.
The location where Foulke found the
Hadrosaurus foulkii
was designated as a National Historic Landmark and is marked
with a bronze plaque at the edge of
Cooper River Park.
Sure, that was big. But South Jersey has played a role in
lots of historic events. The Revolution. The American Civil
War and the Underground Railroad.
Women's
Suffrage. In fact, the region has been a key player in
just about every major event in our nation's growth and
traces of everything from simple 18th century Quaker meeting
houses to the stark
Burlington County Prison to elaborate 19th century
Victorian Main Street communities
to
20th century battleships, still stand in
testimony to South Jersey's role in history.
Pictured: Hadrosaurus Foulkii, Haddonfield
Credit: Dan Holben and Raphael Webscapes, LLC
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