September 01, 2006 —May 28, 2007

Mahwah in the American Revolution In 2006, the Museum sponsored an exhibit entitled “March to Victory: Mahwah in the American Revolution.” This exhibit coincided with a northeastern states celebration of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route from Providence, Road Island – where French troops under the command of General Rochambeau had landed -- to Yorktown,Virginia - where the British under the command of General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington to end the War. In Mahwah, the house of patriot Andrew Hopper was the site of Washington’s Headquarters as it had been previously in the War. Hopper was a descendant of an early Dutch family in the Ramapo Valley and Bergen County and may have had a tavern at his house which was located on the property that is now the home of the President of Ramapo College. On August 23, 1781, the French troops camped in Suffern. They then marched with their animals and provisions down the Ramapo Valley Road to Pompton, where they arrived on August 24. While Washington was at Hopper’s he gave a collection of 42 plates to Andrew Hopper. Six of them survived in private hands – many of the rest are in Mount Vernon. These plates now in the hands of private collectors, Claude and Inez Harkins, were the centerpiece of the Museum’s exhibit, along with other Washingtoniana loaned to the Museum by Mr. and Mrs. Harkins. The exhibit featured a lock of Washington’s hair, an unusual flag designed by Pierre L’Enfant, the architect who designed Washington, D.C. and parts of present day Paterson, Martha Washington’s riding veil and a striking portrait of Washington.