Batsto Village
Route 542
Map / Directions to Batsto Village
(609)561-3262
Village Grounds Open:Dawn to Dusk
Visitors Center Hours:9 AM to 4:40 PM
Closed:New Year's, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Veteran's Day, Election Day, Martin Luther King Day, Lincoln's Birthday and Presidents Day.
Admission:
A parking fee is charged from Memorial Day to Labor Day on weekends and holidays.
Mansion Tours:
$2 for ages 12 and up. $1 for ages 6 to 11. Under 6 free.
Group tours require reservations and are limited to 15 people.
The Visitors Center and Mansion are partially accessible for people with disabilities.
Batsto Village Website
The Batsto Village brochure explains:
"Batsto was founded in 1766 by Charles Read of Burlington, New Jersey, who was the most noted ironmaster in West Jersey prior to the Revolution. He built the Batsto Iron Works near the mouth of the Batsto River. It was the first known bog iron furnace to be established here. By 1773, John Cox, a Philadelphia merchant and trader, became owner of the Batsto Iron Works. During his ownership, and that of Joseph Ball to whom he had sold Batsto in 1779, the Works became an important supplier of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Such wartime products as munitions, camp kettles, iron fastenings and fittings for artillery caissons, wagons, and ships were manufactured. " [1]
George Washington purchased 4 monogrammed firebacks (used to line the back of fireplaces)from Charles Pettit, who was Batsto's agent in Philadelphia in the 1780s. Two of these can still be found in Mount Vernon, Washington's Virginia home. [2]
Batsto Village is a very interesting place, and there is much to see. Please note that most of the buildings and structures date to the 1800s. The visitors center has a museum that details the entire history of Batsto Village, including the Revolutionary War period. |
