New Jersey’s Black Heritage Trail Explores Negro League Baseball, the Underground Railroad, and More

Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey, was left neglected and crumbling for decades. But after a massive $100 million renovation, it reopened in 2023 to an enthusiastic crowd that included Whoopi Goldberg. Hinchliffe, which sits next to Paterson Great Falls, is one of the few Negro League baseball stadiums left in the United States — and it’s among the first historic sites to join New Jersey’s Black Heritage Trail.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed the Black Heritage Trail into law in 2022. State officials then received applications from sites throughout the state, reviewed their credentials, and earlier this year, selected 32 spots that now make up the trail. The first round of historic markers will be installed in the spring of 2025, while a second round of historic sites is currently being reviewed, and there will be future rounds after that.

“People are very excited,” state assemblyman Antwan McClellan, who was a primary sponsor of the bill to create the trail, told Travel + Leisure. “Hopefully we can make it more of an interactive thing,” he added. McClellan wants visitors to be able to pull out their phones at a site, scan a QR code, and listen to an audio guide.

McClellan sees great potential in family reunions, especially for families with New Jersey roots who want to explore their history in connection with the trail. “Those are the best phone calls to get,” he said, “to know that people are coming here, not only to spend money here, but to see what our history was, and to know that their family members were here hundreds of years ago, doing great things.” New Jersey is already a popular summertime destination for families, largely due to its ample coastline and kid-friendly boardwalks.

Among McClellan’s favorite attractions on the trail are two in his home district, in Cape May: Macedonia Baptist Church, a Black center of worship with origins dating back to 1892, and the Harriet Tubman Museum. (Tubman lived in Cape May in the 1850s, working as a cook in hotels and family homes to earn money to fund the Underground Railroad. She directed freedom-seekers up through New Jersey into states farther north and into Canada.)

In April the Charles J. Muth Museum opened next to the stadium to detail Hinchliffe’s history, including the story of Paterson’s own Larry Doby, the first Black player in the American League. Hinchliffe opened in 1932 before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 — back then it was home to the New York Black Yankees, New York Cubans, and Newark Eagles. Today it’s home to the New Jersey Jackals, an independent professional team.

Also on the trail is the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank. It originally opened in 1926 as Reade’s Carlton Theater and saw performances by the legendary jazz musician and bandleader Count Basie, a Red Bank native. The theater was named in Basie's honor after his death and hosted Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennett, and Ringo Starr. Today the lineup includes renowned musicians like Smokey Robinson, as well as musicals, film festivals, drag brunches, and kids shows.

Atlantic City’s Chicken Bone Beach is on the trail as well. It was a haven for vacationing Black families during the era of segregation, much like other storied Black beaches in Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, Sag Harbor in New York, and Idlewild in Michigan. Chicken Bone Beach was designated a Black district around 1900 as hotel owners sought to appease white guests from the South. The beach drew well-known performers, including Sammy Davis, Jr. and Moms Mabley, and it was desegregated in 1964 with the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Near Philadelphia is a visitor center dedicated to Dr. James Still. Born in 1812 to former slaves, and with only three months of formal education, Still went from working as a day laborer to distilling roots and herbs to practicing medicine. He eventually became one of the wealthiest people in Burlington County.

The Black Heritage Trail takes visitors from North Jersey to South, from the ocean to the hills, touching major cities and small towns. As it continues to grow, McClellan wants to highlight Black-owned hotels, restaurants, and other businesses alongside the historic sites. And he wants to elevate the profiles of some lesser-known towns in the process.

“We should all be promoting each other,” he said.

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