On a quiet stretch of Laurel Avenue in Kingston, New Jersey, a weathered farmhouse sits a short walk from the Delaware and Raritan Canal, its walls holding centuries of American memory. This is Rockingham State Historic Site, the place where George Washington spent the final months of the Revolutionary War, where he learned the Treaty of Paris had been signed, and where he composed his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States. On Sunday, September 13, and again on Thursday, September 17, 2026, from two to four in the afternoon, the public is invited to meet the person now charged with telling that story: the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's new historian for Rockingham.
The gatherings, free and open to all, are framed as a conversation rather than a lecture. Attendees are encouraged to share their interests and priorities for interpretive programs and historic preservation at the site, a chance for the community to help shape how Washington's final wartime headquarters will be presented in the years ahead. The events are supported by the Rockingham Association, the friends group that supports interpretive programs at the site, and they arrive at a moment of heightened attention: Revolution NJ, the state's official observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, is now underway and will run through 2033, the 250th anniversary of Washington's time at Rockingham.
The new historian is Paul Soltis, a resource interpretive specialist who joined the site in April 2026 after more than seven years in the same role at the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites. A graduate of the College of William & Mary with a certificate in early American history, material culture, and museum studies, Soltis brings a background steeped in the very period Rockingham preserves. His arrival marks a changing of the guard at a site whose story is inseparable from the nation's founding.
In the final months of the American Revolution, Rockingham served as General George Washington's last wartime headquarters from late August to early November 1783. With Congress forced to relocate to Princeton due to unrest in Philadelphia, Washington was summoned to provide military support and oversee the transition to peacetime. During his stay, he frequently hosted key figures of the Revolution, including James Madison, Elias Boudinot, and Thomas Paine. It was at Rockingham that Washington composed his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, a heartfelt address formally announcing his retirement from military service. On October 31, he and Congress received word that the Treaty of Paris had been signed, officially ending the war. Within days, Washington departed Rockingham, his journey leading him to New York for the British evacuation and then to Annapolis, where he resigned his commission.
Today, Rockingham is operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, with the Rockingham Association providing crucial support. The site includes the historic house, a children's museum housed in a former colonial summer kitchen, a colonial kitchen garden, and a visitor center and museum store in a charming stone building that, while not original to Rockingham, has stood for more than a century. Guided tours of the house are limited to ten people at a time, offering an intimate look at the rooms where Washington lived and worked.
The September meet-and-greet sessions come at a pivotal time. With Revolution NJ's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution now in full swing, and with the 250th anniversary of Washington's final wartime headquarters at Rockingham approaching in 2033, the site is poised for a decade of heightened attention. The new historian's first public act is an invitation to listen, to hear what visitors and neighbors want from this remarkable place. It is a fitting opening gesture for a site that has survived the passage of centuries and that still stands as a testament to the fragile, improbable birth of a nation.
Registration for the free events is available online through Eventbrite, and those unable to attend the Sunday session are welcome at the Thursday afternoon gathering. For more information, the site can be reached at 609-683-7132 or at [email protected].