In 1976 the Abbott Farm Historic District was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. It was the first archaeological Historic Landmark recognized for its archaeological resources in New Jersey and includes approximately 2000 acres of marshlands and bluffs along the Delaware River in Mercer and Burlington Counties.
The significance of the Landmark is multi-faceted and includes evidence of a long history of occupation by Native Americans, and recognition as the largest known Middle Woodland village site in the MidAtlantic /New England region. The site included significant evidence of Lenape cultural exchange across the northeast as well as complex regional ceramic styles.
The Abbott Farm also played an important role in the development of the science of archaeology and geology and was a critical location for a forty-year controversy concerning the antiquity of man in the New World.
Both the Landmark and the Marshlands are named for Charles Conrad Abbott, an archaeologist, naturalist and a prolific writer who lived on the bluffs in a farmhouse near the Tulpehaking Nature Center from 1874 until the house was destroyed by fire in 1914. During that time he collected thousands of artifacts, most of which can be found at the Peabody Museum at Harvard although others are scattered in various museums such as the University of Pennsylvania and the New Jersey State Museum.
Abbott was only the first of many archaeologists to conduct research in the Abbott Farm district including the work of Dorothy Cross, who supervised extensive excavations in the area during the 1930’s.
For a detailed reference of the Landmark: Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark Interpretive Plan and accompanying Cultural Resource Technical Document
