List of historic sites preserved along Rochambeau's route

A series of sites along the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route have been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places or otherwise recognized and preserved. Buildings or roadway or other artifacts at these sites have been preserved and still evoke the army's passage in 1781 and its return in 1782. A multiple-property documentation study completed in 2001 addressed many of the Connecticut sites, and outlined criteria for NRHP-eligibility of others.[1] Recognized historic sites include, from East to West:[2]

  • University Hall (41°49′34″N 71°24′14″W), Providence, Rhode Island. (1st camp was Providence)
  • Waterman's Tavern (2nd camp)[1]:4 (41°43′10″N 71°39′37″W), Coventry, Rhode Island
  • Dorrance Inn (41°41′28″N 71°50′48″W), Sterling, Connecticut
  • Sterling Hill Historic District (41°41′23″N 71°50′56″W)
  • March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Plainfield Pike (41°40′54″N 71°51′50″W) is a 3.6-mile-long road segment in Plainfield and Sterling, Connecticut that is a portion of the historic march route. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[2] It is a portion of Connecticut Route 14A, locally known as Plainfield Pike, which is level in the eastern part but generally hilly with curves. Along the route is open land including pasture and cornfields, wooded areas, and streams including Ekonk Brook. It is bordered by stone walls about 50 feet apart on both sides for most of the way. The only concentration of houses as of 2002 was of 18th- and 19th-century homes in the Sterling Hill Historic District.[3] The roadway was poor and caused difficulty for the artillery and baggage trains. The segment includes views of countryside evocative of how the land would have been in 1781 for the troops marching through.[3]
  • March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Old Canterbury Road (41°41′22″N 71°57′4″W) is a historic site in Plainfield, Connecticut along the march route of Rochambeau's army. It includes a stretch of what is now Old Canterbury Road and a stretch of Canterbury Road (Connecticut Route 14A). It is a 2-acre (0.81 ha) site that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[2][4] This particular segment of the route was deemed historically significant in 2002 "because it allows one to imagine the appearance of the Connecticut countryside—the cultivated fields, woods, stone walls, and narrow, windy roads—that the French army encountered as it made its way to and from the Battle of Yorktown, the engagement that decided the outcome of the American Revolution". It was traversed by Rochambeau's troops in June 1781 on their way to Virginia, and again in November 1782 on their return to Rhode Island.[4] Part of the site is a narrow, curving paved road with a border of shrubs and vines and stone walls along much of its length. A stand of mature sugar maple trees gives shade to a portion of the site. Houses along the section are more modern than the 1781-82 era but are set back far enough to not interfere with the evocation of Rochambeau's marching troops.[4] At the east end of the segment, stone walls are preserved on both sides of the road, and "there are expansive views of plowed fields and pasture both to the north and to the south"[4] as of 2002. The passage of the French army along this route is documented by a period route map drawn by French military engineer Louis-Alexandre Berthier, republished by Rice and Brown in 1972 and reproduced in the 2002 NRHP nomination document.[4]
Manship and Barstow Roads junction
Barstow Road to Westminster Road
Bailey Road marker
Van Veghten House, Finderne, New Jersey, 2018

National Park Service map of the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Joseph Webb House in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 2009
Asa Barnes Tavern/Levi B. Frost House in Southington, Connecticut, in 2011

References
  1. Clouette, Bruce; Harper, Mary (October 22, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Rochambeau's Army in Connecticut, 1780-1782 MPS". National Park Service.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Plainfield Pike". National Park Service. and Accompanying 14 photos, from 2001
  4. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 5, 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Old Canterbury Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying eight photos, from 2001 (see photo captions page 12 of text document)
  5. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Manship Road-Barstow Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos
  6. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Palmer Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos
  7. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Scotland Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos, from 2001 (see photo captions page 6 of text document)
  8. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: March Route of Rochambeau's Army--Hutchinson Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying four photos, from 2001 (see photo captions page 12 of text document)
  9. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Bailey Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying nine photos
  10. Clouette, Bruce (February 1, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Daniel Basset House". National Park Service. and Accompanying four photos, exterior, from 2001 (see captions p. 9 of text document)
  11. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Reservoir Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying five photos, presumably from 2001
  12. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 5, 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Ridgebury Road". National Park Service. and Accompanying four photos
  13. History, The John Fell House. Accessed October 5, 2011. "John Fell Bergen County Patriot was a merchant who before the Revolution had vessels plying the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers. He lived in Allendale at his home called 'Peterfield,' known now as the Fell House." House, at 475 Franklin Turnpike, survives.
  14. "Nova Cæsarea: A Cartographic Record of the Garden State, 1666-1888: Historical Background Maps, Road Maps". Princeton University Library.
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