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 Rebecca Michelle ‘Mikie’ Sherrill 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.
Whitesboro Public Transit Survey
The Whitesboro Historic Preservation Project has partnered with Cross County Connection TMA to conduct a bicycle and pedestrian road safety audit. This audit (also known as a “walkability workshop”) will examine current travel conditions in Whitesboro and suggest ways to make travel safer.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and share your thoughts on what Whitesboro needs to improve its public transit.
In the news
Shirley Green said she is worried about Whitesboro’s future.
She said gentrification and discrepancies in the property deeds of some existing homeowners are threatening the identity of this once thriving Black community in Cape May County’s Middle Township.
Green, executive director of the Whitesboro Historical Foundation and Museum, said the inconsistencies in official property records are raising concerns that some residents are paying taxes on the wrong properties and could lose their homes through tax sales. Middle Township officials told WHYY News they have not yet received any complaints, but residents dispute that.
Deed discrepancies are not uncommon, according to Timothy P. Duggan, chairman of the eminent domain and property valuation group at the law firm Stark and Stark. However, inconsistencies in paperwork can lead to a variety of problems, including boundary line disputes.
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 