Washington Crossing Historic Park
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- Not to be confused with Washington Crossing State Park, a New Jersey State Park located across the Delaware River in Titusville, New Jersey
Washington Crossing Historic Park is a 500-acre (2 km²) site operated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission that is part of Washington's Crossing, a U.S. National Historic Landmark area. The park is headquartered in the village of Washington Crossing located in Upper Makefield Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It marks the location of where George Washington crossed the Delaware River during the American Revolutionary War.
The park includes 13 historic buildings including McConkey's Ferry Inn, where General George Washington and his aides ate dinner and made plans prior to the crossing. Among the historic buildings is a 20th-century barn that houses several replica Durham Boats. Durham boats were large, open boats that were used to transport pig iron along the Delaware River at the time of the Revolution and these boats, along with others, were used to transport soldiers, horses, and equipment across the river on the night of December 25, 1776. The replica boats are used each Christmas when the famous crossing is re-enacted in the park.
Located in the park's northern section is the 100-acre (0.4 km²) Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve and Bowman's Hill Tower, the Thompson-Neely house, which was used as a military hospital during Washington's encampment in the area, and the graves of an estimated 40 to 60 soldiers who died there. The exact location of the graves is unknown, though they were partially unearthed during the construction of the nearby Delaware Canal in the early 1800s and during other nearby construction projects. Presently there are memorial headstones as a reminder that the area is a gravesite.
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[edit] History and mission of the park
The park was created in 1917 and the Washington Crossing Park Commission was established in 1919 to administer and develop the park.
The park was formed to commememorate the famous Crossing as the "Turning point of the American Revolution." The Commission's first objective was to develop the site as a historical shrine and its second objective was to preserve its natural beauty and develop its areas for recreational use. Bowman's Hill Tower was built to commemorate what may have been a lookout point for General George Washington's troops to watch the banks of the Delaware River for enemy activity. The park also contains the Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve and the surrounding area is the natural habitat for many native plants, trees, animals and birds. Today the park serves to preserve and interpret the site of the Washington's Crossing of the Delaware.
[edit] The Crossing
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| Washington Crossing the Delaware |
| Emanuel Leutze, 1851 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 378.5 × 647.7 cm, 149 × 255 in |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
Main Article Washington's crossing of the Delaware
On December 25, 1776, General George Washington and a small army of 2,400 men crossed the Delaware River at McKonkey's Ferry, Pennsylvania on their way to attack a Hessian Garrison of 1,500 in Trenton, New Jersey. The crossing, made during a time when morale was at its lowest point during the American Revolution, renewed hope among the Continental Army, Congress and the general population.
[edit] Famous people in Washington's Crossing of the Delaware
Two future Presidents:
One future Vice-President:
One future Chief Justice of the United States:
Others:
- Alexander Hamilton, future Secretary of the Treasury
- Prince Whipple, alleged by some sources but not proven
- John Glover (general), was responsible for ferrying Washington's men
[edit] See also
- Washington's Crossing
- Bowman's Tower
- Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve, within the park
- Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania
- The Crossing, a 2000 television movie starring Jeff Daniels as George Washington
[edit] References
- Official Site
- Fisher, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing. Oxford University Press USA, 2004, 576 pages. ISBN 0195170342
- Ketchum, Richard. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. Owl Books, 1999, 448 pages. ISBN 0805060987
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[edit] External links
