No New Jersey county has a a richer black historical presence than Burlington County. The black presence on soil that is today Burlington County is in fact older than the county itself. While black slaves were indeed introduced to Burlington Island sometime between 1659 and 1664 when the island was part of the Dutch colony New Netherland, it was not until 1676, well after the 1664 English seizure of New Netherland, that Burlington County was established. That Afro-Americans could be found on Burlington Island between 1659 and 1664 actually makes the island, and therefore the county, one of the earliest places in New Jersey where a black presence can be documented.

          Not only have African Americans been present in Burlington County for a long time, but their early presence involved significant numbers. By 1790 the county had the largest black population of the state's five counties. But probably of greater impact, it also had the largest free black population of any county in New Jersey. This fact may be attributed to its being located in the Delaware Valley, an area that has been termed "the Cradle of Emancipation" because it was that part of America where slaves were first manumitted on a large scale. It was the sizeable presence and influence in the Delaware Valley of Quakers, America's first organized group to speak out against the evils of black bondage, that enabled this region to be the pacesetter regarding black emancipation.

          The achievement of freedom by Afro-Americans eased considerably concerted action by them in the establishment of their own institutions and organizations. It is thus not surprising that some of New Jersey's earliest forms of black organized life can be found in Burlington County. For example, the Jacob's Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Mount. Laurel, initially known as the Colemantown Meeting House, dates to 1813 and is among the state's oldest black congregations.

          Freedom also meant that blacks as individuals were afforded greater opportunities to fashion lives of decency and dignity for themselves. In this respect Cyrus Bustill (1732-1804) serves as a notable example. Born a slave in Burlington, he was manumitted in 1769 by second owner, a Quaker, who taught him to be a baker. Bustill subsequently operated a successful baking business for many years before moving to Philadelphia, where he became a leader of that city's black community. In 1787 he became a founder of the Free African Society, one of the nation's earliest black organizations, and he subsequently built a free school in Philadelphia in which he taught. Bustill is often mentioned in connection with his great, great grandson, Paul Robeson, the great singer, and political activist, who is arguably New Jersey's most illustrative native.

          Burlington County's rich black history is reflected to a large degree in various extant historic sites. Sixteen of these physical reminders of the past, found in nine communities, are presented in this guide. These landmarks cover a period of over three centuries, a period extending from the late seventeenth century to the present. Since it is during this period that black life in Burlington County has undergone a profound transformation, these sites are invaluable treasure in helping to illuminate what both defined and distinguished this transformation. Through them, for example, one is linked to the successful struggles by Afro-Americans for freedom and civil rights; the rise and flowering of black institutional life; and the influx of black souther migrants beginning in the early twentieth century. The sites bear witness to African Americans as historical actors; to their accomplishments and achievements, their hardships and difficulties--to the simple joys and sorrows attendant to being black in Burlington County. And the black historical actors involved range from outstanding personalities like James Still, "the Black Doctor of the Pines," to those ordinary people whose strivings and yearnings for self-improvement and racial betterment provided the underpinnings for the county's black communal and institutional life.

          But black historic sites in Burlington County have an even larger meaning. In providing evidence that the county has long been ethnically diverse, they represent in microcosm that nation's history; they provide the physical evidence on which an inclusive approach in reconstruction America's past can be built; they evoke the realization of a multicultural heritage. And, of equal importance, these historic resources have the capacity to transcend racial boundaries; they can feature a meaningful white presence. Underground Railroad stations that belonged to whites are sterling examples of this. Indeed, part of the clandestine network of people and places that aided fugitives slaves from the South during the antebellum period, these landmarks exist today as precious symbols of interracial cooperation and goodwill.

          This guide is intended to serve as an introduction to Burlington County's black historic sites. It seeks to facilitate and enhance visits to the sites noted through the provision of information about their location, the order in which they might best be visited, and their historical importance. In the precess it is hoped that this guide will encourage the protection and preservation of these landmarks, helping thereby to ensure that they will be part of the county's physical heritage--its physical legacy--that is bequeathed to future generations.