The 2024 Revolutionary Witness House Tour Was a Tremendous Success!
Read the president’s letter about the event here and check out a video about the event!
Buy your tickets today!
Revolutionary Witness House Tour 2025 and Hessian Retreat 1 Mile Fun Run
Saturday, September 27, 2025, will be a jam-packed, fun-filled day in Moorestown! We will be celebrating the Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of our nation, with a Hessian Retreat 1 Mile Fun Run at 9 am and the Revolutionary Witness House Tour starting at 11 am through 5 pm. We hope you join us for this incredible day!
Witness Houses are houses that were standing during the Revolutionary War and still exist today! The Historical Society of Moorestown estimates that there were about 100 houses, about 5 taverns, grain and saw mills and ferry crossings in the vicinity of Moorestown at that time 1775-1783. Today we have just 19 of these homes remaining, making them rare and precious to us and vital to our historic authenticity. Some are in extremely critical danger of demolition and/or development of the land they sit on.
It is our hope that by this celebration we will raise awareness and money to foster our mission of saving what little remains of our important historical resources.
Moorestown during the Revolutionary War was a farming village. Even our Main Street Witness Houses had farms of up to 200 acres extending behind them into wilderness. These farms had stockpiles of fresh and preserved food, grains, livestock and milled logs. All of these were desperately needed by soldiers waging a war; and therefore, the townspeople were frequently raided. They developed a system of sounding an alarm and then hiding valuables and shooing animals into the woods so they would be spared. We will share these stories and many more on September 27.
The road race start is at Perkins Center For the Arts. It is a reverse scavenger hunt that reimagines a fateful day in 1778 when 7,700 British and Hessian troops retreated along the Kings Highway threough Moorestown and wreaked havoc! Participants will receive a backpack with “stolen” items to return to the Witness Houses that they pass along the way. Participants will have a wooden coin to return to Moore’s Tavern and grab a water at the site of The Indian Spring. The last item to be “returned” is a rubber chicken to Smith-Cadbury Mansion #12 High Street! Why a rubber chicken? Because, during this retreat in 1778 the Hessian soldiers captured all of the Smith farm’s chickens and plucked and roasted them in the parlor fireplace! There will be costumed Hessian and British soldiers to chase out of town along the route. We aim to make Moorestown’s history fun and memorable for this and future generations.
Revolutionary Witness House Tour Saturday September 27, 2025
Rain or shine, 11:00am-5pm. Help us celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary, the Semiquincentennial, by journeying through time to the Revolutionary War period, 1775-1783. Tour several of Moorestown’s oldest homes that were standing during the Revolutionary War. We call these homes “Witness Houses”. Moorestown has just 19 of these homes still standing, although several are in danger of development. This is a rare opportunity to tour a handful inside, and walk the grounds of several more.
Tickets for this one day event are $35 each, children under 12 are free. Tickets can be purchased online via the Shopify link, or in person at Moorestown True Value Hardware Store (300 Mill St.) after August 1st tour tickets will also be available at Smith-Cadbury Mansion (12 High St.).
This tour will run rain or shine. All tickets are considered a much needed donation and no refunds will be issued. Visitors should wear walking shoes and have a fully charged phone in order to access the full interactive experience. Present your Shopify confirmation at the recreated Moore’s Tavern, at its original location, now The Bank of Princeton, Main and Union Streets to receive a paper copy of the ticket and tour map.* Tickets purchased at Moorestown True Value Hardware store include the map so there is no need to report to Moore’s Tavern first.
Several houses are clustered on Main street and some are scattered throughout the surrounding area (former farmland).
Your ticket is a coupon to receive 10% off your lunch or dinner at participating restaurants printed on the ticket brochure.
For more information contact Julie Maravich at 856-266-7607 or juliemaravich@gmail.com
Tickets for these and other Semiquincentennial events available on Moorestown250.com
Moorestown250.com also has merchandise and additional T-shirts. Lastly, please patronize and thank our valued sponsors!
See you in September!!
If you have a little money to spare, please become a member by donating and receive a commemorative postcard of the critically endangered Commodore Truxtun House, also called the Silas Walton House c. 1760. The Commodore second only to John Paul Jones in importance to our Navy lived in the house from 1812-1860 and owned it through 1820, just two years before his death.
Silas Walton owned the house following the Commodore. He was a farm equipmentinventor and developed an acclaimed hybridized strawberry that we all eat today!