Dozens of people gathered inside David’s Country Inn We’re in Hackettstown Tuesday night to break bread and celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event.

They clinked their glasses Welcome to Warren County’s 200th anniversary. Some attendees chose to dress for the occasion and wore bonnets, top hats, bustles and tails.

“You wouldn’t believe how quickly I sent my $25 when I found out about this incident,” said Phillipsburg resident Doreen Gramling. The event coincided with his 70th birthday. She prepared her outfit specially for the event.

Warren County Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board In September, he announced that the event was sold out. The party featured traveling minstrel performances of the Muskrat Ramblers, a classic dance routine performed by the Classic Ballroom Dance Studio in Hackettstown; and attendees were gifted special blue and yellow M&Ms from Mars Company to take home.

“The county’s bicentennial is a special time to be around,” said State Sen. Doug Steinhardt, R-Warren. Steinhardt was born and raised in Warren County. He said his grandparents immigrated to the area from Hungary.

“The district is in great hands,” he added.

The Bicentennial Gala was hosted by the Warren County Bicentennial Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board. The new board was created in May 2019 by the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders, now the Board of County Commissioners.

The bicentennial board was given the mission of developing programs in the arts that foster public interest in local and county history and the cultural values, goals, and traditions of the community, New Jersey, and the nation.

The group also undertakes the maintenance and preservation of museums and some county properties and the conduct of historical research. The original commission was established in 1972. The commission houses two National Register Historic Places: Shippen Mansion, built circa 1754, and Oxford Furnace, circa 1741.

County Commissioner Lori Ciesla said the county Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board will host several events in 2025. The celebrations will coincide with the country’s 500th anniversary. “It’s going to be a fun year,” he said.

Warren County was incorporated from parts of Sussex County by act of the New Jersey Legislature on November 20, 1824. Ciesla said the property owners had their first meeting in May 2025.

Originally the county consisted of boroughs: Greenwich, Hardwick, Independence, Knowlton, Mansfield, Oxford and the now defunct Pahaquarry, which was dissolved in 1997.

The house where the gala was held was built of logs in 1787 and reframed in 1840. The house, which served as an inn for 152 years, was known as The Warren House, named after American founding father Joseph Warren.

In its early days, the Inn was a stagecoach stop; There were twenty-four guest rooms, two lounges, a bar and dining room.

David’s Country Inn In 1978, Louis and Theodora J. Falzarano Jr. It was purchased and renovated by. The property has been managed by their son Christopher and his sister since 2009 and operates as a wedding and event venue.

Warren Count is named after American physician Joseph Warren, a soldier during the American Revolution who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, leaving behind four children and a fiancée. They were all refugees.

Before his death, he wrote and published ‘Free America’, a battle hymn for the Revolution. The hymn warns patriots not to allow their country to meet the sad fate of too proud civilizations of the past.

The lyrics say, “Defend your rights, Americans / Don’t bow to lawless words / Oppose, oppose, oppose, oppose / For North America.”

He is said to have promoted the revolutionary cause, as his death was seen as an act of martyrdom. He is the namesake of fourteen counties across the country in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Missouri, Virginia, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Connecticut; and 30 Warren County.

Glenn Epps can be reached at: [email protected] or Glenn_epps_On X (formerly twitter.com), Facebook and Topics.

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