Event Details
BRIDGEWATER- The July 4th celebration kicks off with the annual Independence Day program at the Middlebrook Encampment on Middlebrook Road in Bridgewater.For 131 years, the Washington Camp Ground Association has honored the memory of the American Revolution and the two Middlebrook encampments, both of which played a strategic role in the successful outcome of the Revolutionary War.
The ceremony will start at 10:00 am when local Boy Scouts remove the Hopkinson Flag flown for the last 365 days over the campsite with a new one to fly over the campground until next year.
The Washington Camp Ground Association was incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in 1894 and owns a portion of the land, known as Washington’s Middlebrook Encampment. The 19.3-acre location was donated through the generosity and foresight of the Honorable George LaMonte. The “Middlebrook Encampment” is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Association is dedicated to preserving this land for educational and commemorative purposes and to honoring the struggle of the colonists for freedom and independence during the American Revolution. Every 4th of July, patriotic exercises are conducted at the Camp Ground, featuring a reading of the Declaration of Independence. This 4th of July 2025 celebrates the 131th Annual Ceremony and the 249th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. (July 4, 1776).
While today’s event is memorable, in 1907, the Fourth of July celebration included a parade that proceeded from downtown Bound Brook to this location. The parade that year was the first reported in the United States to include a procession of automobiles. Over 2,000 citizens followed the parade to this campground, where the patriotic events were held, and the Declaration of Independence was read.