New Jersey Underground Railroad and New Jersey African American History

• Want to learn more about The New Jersey Underground Railroad? Check out The Peter Mott House in Lawnside – a historic New Jersey museum dedicated to the human desire for freedom and a symbol of New Jersey African American History. Built around 1845, the house was residence to Peter Mott, an African-American preacher and his wife. Mott was a free Black man and an agent of the Underground Railroad. The house was restored as a museum and opened to the public in October 2001. The property is now listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

• Another historic New Jersey building, The Burlington Pharmacy on High Street is New Jersey’s oldest pharmacy – constructed in 1731. Believed to have once been the center of anti-slavery activity in Burlington, rumor has it that the tunnels under this building hid slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. Isaac Collins, the royal printer, lived in this building from 1770 to 1778.
  
  

• The Croft Farm in Cherry Hill was once a working mill and farm and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Today, the Farm is a vibrant Arts Center and a piece of New Jersey history. The Croft Farm has played an important role in Southern New Jersey for 300+ years.

• Quaker abolitionists Elizabeth and Abigail Goodwin established their home in Salem City as an Underground Railroad Station in 1838. The history of the house as a place of refuge was documented in a diary maintained by the sisters' nephew and today is considered a New Jersey historic home landmark – holding an important place in New Jersey African American History.
  
  

• Another important New Jersey Underground Railroad site that played an important role in New Jersey African American history is the Mt. Zion AME Church in Woolwich Township.

• During the 1840’s, Reverend Thomas Clement Oliver, perhaps the most active New Jersey Underground Railroad operative, was the pastor of the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church in Camden, the city’s oldest African American institution.