In celebration of the 225th Anniversary of Washington's Residence at Rockingham, the following events took place:

August 2008 - "Receiving the Commander in Chief"
General Washington Arrives "Near Rocky Hill," 1783 was held over a two day period at Rockingham Historic Site, Kingston, NJ

General George Washington and entourage arrived at Rockingham on Saturday, August 24, the 225th anniversary of the day he originally arrived, and was greeted by Mrs. Berrien, owner of the property, and local citizens in a formal arrival ceremony. His accompanying guard of dragoons, von Heers' Marechausee encamped for the weekend while the General was in residence at the house. Activities included:

Arrival Ceremony - General Washington along with von Heer mounted escorts arrived at Rockingham house, greeted by Mrs. Berrien. The General greeted the public and made brief remarks outside the house.
Demonstration by von Heer's dragoons
Reenactment of an officers' dinner under the marquee (tent). Discussion of current affairs engaged the public.
General Washington was in residence in the upstairs study.
Custom Stamp Cancellations continues at the Rocky Hill Post Office until September 22.

June 2008 - Creating Washington Military Reproductions at Rockingham Presenters: Richard & Regina Toone, Living History Shop Craftsmen Dick and Regina Toone discussed how they turned Mount Vernon- and Smithsonian-owned General Washington military equipage originals, including his camp bed, mess kit and shaving box, into useable reproductions for Rockingham display. They showed how their skills were developed to re-create the originals with early American tools and materials, and showed historical reproductions including an up-close look at those created for Rockingham.

On December 9, the Museum Store and Visitor Center opened for the first time. The photo to the right shows a few of the people (Nancy Allen, committee member, Peggi Carlsen, former site director, Lisa Flick, current site director, and Mary Kay Muckenhoupt, committee chairperson) behind the vision for the Visitor Center and Museum Store. Missing from the photo are Jim Farrell, current Association president, Eric Holtermann, site architect and current board member, Gordon Griffin, past Association president, Sharon Wheeden, committee member, and others who saw the possibilities for the sweet little stone building. It opened to rousing praise after more than 10 years of planning.

October 2007 - Renovation and Construction Update - Phase 3 Comes to a Close

The construction at Rockingham, begun in March, is drawing to a close. The stone building that served as a kitchen for hearth-cooking demonstrations at Rockingham's previous site on Rte. 518 will soon open as the Museum Store and Visitor Center. This building has been painted, and new lighting and heating have been added. Also, a section with two bathrooms has been added for the public to use.

The store committee, headed by Rockingham Association member Mary Kay Muckenhoupt, is working on plans for the interior set-up and inventory. The group hopes to open the store on November 11. Its grand opening, however, will be on December 9 during the Holiday Candlelight Tours.

Other additions to the Rockingham property include a new fence along the path from the Museum Store to the main house, with unobtrusive modern lighting for the path at night. Lighting has also been added from the parking lot to the store.

The Children's Museum building, however, is on hold for now, while siding replacement issues are worked out. Its chimney will eventually be relined, so that hearth-cooking demonstrations can resume at the site in the future.

A few minor things need to be completed and the new museum store and visitor center (and public bathrooms) will be declared open for business, hopefully by December.

You never can have too much publicity! An article about Rockingham recently appeared in "From House to Home", a glossy magazine inserted into many newspapers. The article outlines the history of the house and features several lovely pictures of Rockingham.

2008 marks 225 years since George Washington made Rockingham his final war-time headquarters. A committee is already working on activities and programs to be held from August through November 2008, the months Washington was in residence. The committee is also working with representatives from Morven Museum, Princeton University, the Historical Society of Princeton and the Chamber of Commerce to bring first rate artisans and dignitaries to the area for the celebration of Washington's stay and the meeting of the Continental Congress. Watch for more information.

Articles by Dawn Fairchild, former Association Vice President and creator of the Washington replica uniform and most of our reproduction wardrobe, have been printed in the DAR publication, American Spirit (Nov.-Dec. 2006) and the The Mayflower Quarterly (Dec. 2006). The articles document the hundreds of hours of research and hand work required to reproduce the fine replica uniform on display on a likeness of the General.

And congratulations also are in order to former site curator, Peggi Carlsen and Board member, Dr. Mary Rizzo, for the future publication of an article, "Foodways without Fire: Using Food to Teach about Gender and Labor at an Eighteenth Century House Museum", in the AHLFAM (Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums) Bulletin. The piece discusses the foodways program that Peggi and Mary developed at Rockingham.

After several years of anticipation, construction began in March on several improvements at the site.

The 150-year old stone building is about to be come the Museum Store and Visitor Center. While not original to Rockingham's Colonial period, the charming historic structure was used for open-hearth cooking at the former site and was moved with the Rockingham mansion and Children's Museum in 2001. There will be public bathrooms attached to the building which also will house the Museum Store.

Master craftsman Richard Toone delivered the final pieces to Rockingham's unique collection of reproduction Washington military artifacts. Added to the shaving kit, liquor boxes and other extraordinary pieces is an elaborate mess kit. Mr. Toone was given access to the original at the Smithsonian in order to replicate it in every detail for use in educational programs. Also newly on display are a leather portmanteau, elegant trunks and a charming writing kit.

In addition, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association gave permission to Mr. Toone to replicate, solely for Rockingham, Washington's shaving kit and a heavy wooden crate, which are part of the Mount Vernon collection.