About
In late 1800s, the Colored American Equitable Industrial Association, led by Former U.S. Congressman George H. White (1897-1901) and other notable investors: Reverend J.W. Fishburn, Booker T. Washington, Samuel H. Vick, Aletha Gibbs, Wiley H. Bates, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Ernest Cherry, Honorable William H. Hunt, and many more began acquisition of over 3500 acres of land in Cape May County, New Jersey, and founded the broader Whitesboro community. Ironically, these lands had once been the property of Aaron Leaming Jr. and Thomas Leaming Jr., the largest slave owners in Cape May County’s history.
In January 1998, Mrs. Shirley Green founded the Whitesboro Historical Foundation to establish a museum for the town of Whitesboro, in the state of New Jersey, County of Cape May, to display Whitesboro’s unique history in an entertaining and informative manner.
On June 1st, 2023, the Whitesboro Historical Foundation convened a Whitesboro Community Listening Session at the Historic Whitesboro Grammar School to discuss the issues in Whitesboro and develop solutions to better serve the community. Thus, the Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project was born to preserve Whitesboro’s legacy and future and unify the community of Whitesboro in the pursuit of self-reliance and good self-governance.
partners & supporters
Whitesboro incorporation
Sign our Petition and help us Preserve the Legacy & Future of Whitesboro, New Jersey.
We ask all residents and friends of Whitesboro, New Jersey (Wildwood Junction Heights, Wildwood Heights, Whitesboro, Burleigh, & Mayville) to sign our petition and help us gain support from the New Jersey State Legislature and Governor Phillip D. Murphy to incorporate Whitesboro as its own Borough.
whitesboro NeighborhooD Revitalization plan
The Whitesboro Historical Foundation, the lead partner of the Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project has completed a planning grant through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ (NJ DCA) Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit (NRTC) program to develop a neighborhood plan for Whitesboro.
Click below to read our full Whitesboro Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.
In the news
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Newark Avenue leads off Pennsylvania Avenue, a shady straight line into the trees and one of the few public dirt roads in the township.
Across from the bike path, the road borders a stretch of thick woods to the south. But the township tax map lays out a series of rectangular blocks in those woods, each divided into multiple lots of varying shapes and sizes.
The township sees potential for development in the area, which is part of historic Whitesboro.
Whitesboro historian Shirley Green, contacted Tuesday, said that area was part of the plans for Whitesboro from the start. She said the area belonged to Samuel Vick, one of the original Whitesboro investors.
Felicia Simmons, of Asbury Park, part of the Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project, said the organization has applied for a New Jersey grant through the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program, also seeking to redevelop Whitesboro, including the areas the township is considering.
Simmons said the organization has shared its plans with the township, and accused the township of failing to involve the community in its plans. She went further, arguing that zoning rules and other methods have kept the historically Black community from achieving its potential.
For the news
WHITESBORO, N.J. – Whitesboro, New Jersey, is writing a new chapter in its centuries old story, one built on union strength, Black heritage, and economic justice. Founded in the late 1800s under the vision of Congressman George H. White as a safe haven for Black families, Whitesboro has weathered decades of disinvestment. Now, it’s rising again, and this time, the comeback is fueled by a groundbreaking alliance between labor and community.
The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters (EASRCC) and the Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project (WHPP) have forged a bold partnership to bring apprenticeship pipelines, training programs, and high-paying union careers directly into this historic Black town. This isn’t charity, it’s power. It’s about reclaiming the right to build our communities, our way, and to secure the economic future that our parents and grandparents were too often denied.
Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project 