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STATE GRANT JUMPSTARTS BURLINGTON CITY WALKING TOURS

From The Burlington County Times

BURLINGTON CITY — The Burlington County Historical Society has been awarded a $24,000 state grant to develop an interactive walking tour of Burlington City.

The society will use the money to hire the nonprofit South Jersey Tourism Corp. of Camden to research, develop and market the tour.

Lisa Fox-Pfeiffer, executive director of the historical society, said the tours should bring more visitors to the city.

"I'm totally thrilled and excited," she said. "It's just an excellent opportunity. If it works in Burlington City, it could work in other parts of the county."

Fox-Pfeiffer said the society will begin working on the tour in April, and launch it this fall.

The tour will highlight many famous former residents of the city. The city was once home to President Ulysses S. Grant, novelist James Fenimore Cooper and War of 1812 hero Capt. James Lawrence.

Other residents include Elias Boudinot, president of the Continental Congress, and Oliver Cromwell, a black Revolutionary War soldier. Benjamin Franklin also spent time in Burlington City.

The historical society obtained the grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust, a division of the state Department of Community Affairs.

The New Jersey Historic Trust grants are competitive. For this year's round, 148 groups applied, requesting more than $34 million, Fox-Pfeiffer said. The state agency awarded $11 million to 61 applicants, she said.

Burlington City already offers a historic walking tour coordinated by the City of Burlington Tourism Council and the city historical society. Fox-Pfeiffer said the new tour will be different because it will focus on the stories of famous residents and will incorporate multimedia and re-enactors.

The grant will provide a limited number of tours, but the county society would like to continue the tours if they are successful. Fox-Pfeiffer said the society's staff will assist with the research and will be trained to lead the tours.

"Hopefully this will be something that we, the historical society, can sustain in future years," she said.

The county society and Burlington City will each contribute $4,000. That money, along with the grant, will total $32,000 and will be used to hire the South Jersey Tourism Corp., Fox-Pfeiffer said.