The historic Benjamin Cooper House is where Camden City all started.
“Camden County and Camden City are divided into hundreds of lots and blocks,” said Camden County Commissioner Jeffrey Nash. “Today we are standing on Block 1, Lot 1. That means that when Camden City was first planned, this [chartered parcel] is where it all started.
“Two-hundred ninety-one years ago on this very site.”
State, county and local officials came together for the ribbon cutting and opening of the American Revolution Museum of Southern New Jersey at Benjamin Cooper House at 75 Erie St. in Camden on June 27. It is a stone’s throw away from the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
It was just in time for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“This was a very special place,” Nash reflected.
“Yes, you had your Philadelphia, yes, you had your New York,” noted Steve Ayscue, a board member for the Camden County Historical Society, “but it’s that in between where the real fight happened [during the American Revolution].”
The history of the Cooper House highlights the military importance of the area and the local population’s dueling loyalties during the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Cooper built the house in 1734 to operate a ferry, tavern and inn. In October 1777, Hessian soldiers traveled to the area – known as Cooper’s Ferry at the time – from Philadelphia in a failed attempt to capture Fort Mercer. In March 1778, after foraging and repulsing the Continental Army, British soldiers convened at the tavern and arrested Benjamin’s sons, Joseph and Samuel, for spying. In April 1778 British soldiers and loyalists killed up to 13 and captured 34 New Jersey infantry and militiamen. It served as a vital Revolutionary hub and ferry stop on the Delaware River.
The Camden County Historical Society and Flash Films & Media LLC produced a video on The Benjamin Cooper House: At a Crossroad in the Revolution three years ago.
“We’ve forgotten a lot about the war for independence,” said author Dr. Ricardo A. Herrera, “places like the Benjamin Cooper House are vital reminders to us of what took place during the American War for Independence by preserving them, by sustaining them, we preserve and sustain our own history, our own story as Americans.”
“We’ve forgotten a lot about the war for independence,” said Dr. Ricardo A. Herrera in the video, “places like the Benjamin Cooper House are vital reminders to us of what took place during the American War for Independence by preserving them, by sustaining them, we preserve and sustain our own history, our own story as Americans.”
Herrera is the author of “Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778.”
The Benjamin Cooper House in Camden has been revitalized and becomes the trailhead of the North Camden and Cramer Hill Waterfront Trails Project as part of the county’s 33-mile bicycle and pedestrian Camden County Link Trail to Atlantic County. It is also the site of the American Revolution Museum of Southern New Jersey.
The house was witness to incredible events in Southern New Jersey during the war for American Independence. In 1778, British forces in Philadelphia launched an expedition to capture Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne. The expedition culminated in a skirmish in what is now downtown Camden.
“Cooper’s Ferry was the locus of tremendous movement and significant action by both armies in the foraging operation,” Herrera said.
In 2012 vandals struck, but the tavern still stands today – at a new crossroad.
“If you came back here 20 years ago, you would have wondered what it was,” Ayscue said.
The project – to preserve the historic site to help teach future generations – would not have been possible without being funded through a combination of local, state and federal funding. During the opening ceremony, many thanks were extended to all those who helped preserve the tavern.
Dignitaries presented proclamations to Ayscue and Chris Perks, president of the Camden County Historical Society.
“Through its establishment of the American Revolution Museum of Southern New Jersey, the Camden County Historical Society [is] able to model and emulate and set a standard of excellence for which all others might strive to be,” the state Senate and General Assembly proclamation stated.
The historical society in accordance with the North Camden Neighborhood Plan completed a preservation plan for the adaptive reuse of the historic tavern in October 2021. The goals of the plan included:
• Bring to life the history and restoration of Camden’s most historic house on the most historic site in Camden County.
• Tell Camden County’s and South Jersey’s little-known role in the American Revolution.
• Utilize the “campus” as a focal point for a new American History and Civics curriculum for local schools.
• Identify the racial bias and nativist, xenophobic fears and challenges faced by enslaved and free people of color during and after the Revolution and how they contributed to or opposed the war against Great Britain to seek or maintain their freedom.
• Elucidate the promise of equality in the Declaration of Independence and 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (Equal Protection).
• Contribute to residents’ healthy lifestyles as the trailhead for Camden County’s 33-mile bike and walking trail from the Delaware River to Atlantic County.
• The museum and trailhead will serve as a gathering place and event location for the community.
The site is on the list of American Battlefields and Historic Sites as recognized by Congress in 1993.
The day after the ribbon cutting and opening, Tavern Talks at the museum were held where visitors were able to step into the colonial tavern atmosphere and debate revolutionary ideas with live reenactors.
For more information on the American Revolution Museum of Southern New Jersey at Benjamin Cooper House, visit amrevmuseumsnj.com.
