By Anne Levin

The countdown is on. Princeton, along with the rest of the country, is gearing up for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026.

The town is among the more than 100 New Jersey communities and 200 organizations that have officially joined in the preparations for the nation’s semiquincentennial, led by Revolution NJ, the State’s official initiative to mark the milestone.

For the past several months, Princeton’s Heritage Tourism Committee and Mercer County’s Division of Travel and Tourism have been regularly meeting to talk about how best to spotlight the town’s critical role in the creation of the country. Key players include the Princeton Battlefield Society (PBS), the Historical Society of Princeton (HSP), Experience Princeton, Morven Museum and Garden, and the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society, among other organizations and nonprofits.

“Experience Princeton has partnership agreements with Morven and the Princeton Battlefield Society, and we’re cooperating on things like marketing,” said Isaac Kremer, director of Experience Princeton. “We are in discussions about several things. We have a landing page of our website that we will be filling up with events. We’re also partnering with Discover Central New Jersey. There is important history we are connected to, and we need to make it present for people.”

Morven’s identity as the home of Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was part of the inspiration for “Five Independent Souls,” an exhibit about Stockton and the other four members of the Continental Congress from New Jersey — Abraham Clark, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, and the Rev. John Witherspoon — to sign the document. The exhibit will be on display in honor of the anniversary.

“This is a huge show we’ll be putting on,” said Morven Executive Director Rhonda DiMascio. “We’ll have information, images, objects about Colonial New Jersey, and accompanying programs. We’ll be building off that exhibition and continuing with other programming. Our annual Grand Homes and Gardens series will be about the homes of the signers. So we’re tailoring events to the 250th.”

Morven will partner with the PBS and HSP on a festival focused on taverns. Eve Mandel of the HSP elaborated on those plans for the event, to be held at Morven.

“It’s still a work in progress, but our main focus is the taverns that were an important part of Princeton at the time,” she said. “We have a lot in our collections about the taverns during that period. The celebration will have a kind of Renaissance fair vibe, with reenactors, music, and different beers offered for adults.”

The HSP is also working on a walking tour focused on the anniversary, and possibly an outreach program as well, Mandel said.

Jamie Volkert, director of Mercer County’s Division of Travel and Tourism, spoke recently at a roundtable event at the Brearley House, hosted by the Lawrence Historical Society. Volkert was impressed to see that 22 county historical organizations were present at the event.

“A lot of the towns really seem to want to work together, which is great,” she said. “It brings all the communities together. We’re working with a lot of people who are in the planning stages for what they’ll be doing, and we’re in the process of building our Mercer250 website. That’s a way we hope to tie together the organizations across the county.”

The focus will be on “telling the untold stories,” Volkert continued. “We’ll have a place for everyone to promote their events, and hopefully a platform so people won’t be duplicating. I finally feel comfortable that we’re at a point where we’ve met most of the key players, and I feel good that everybody is talking and communicating.”

As the anniversary year gets closer, different organizations are starting to hold related events. The May 8 membership luncheon of the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal will feature speakers on the topic “Celebrating America’s 250th: The Revolution Has Begun!” Morven’s annual Morven in May garden party on May 9 lists a “countdown to independence” among highlights of the gathering.

For Mercer County, the focus is on 1776 and beyond.

“Mercer County’s role in the 250th Anniversary celebration is to elevate and highlight the rich history that our communities and nonprofit partners have to offer,” said County Executive Dan Benson. “I’m proud of the work our administration has already begun — bringing key stakeholders together to ensure a vibrant and inclusive celebration across the county.”