Mount Holly

Mount Holly, New Jersey is a township in and the county seat of Burlington County. In 1677, Walter Reeves bought a plot of land from the Delaware Indians. He built a dam on Rancocas Creek in order to power a saw mill and a grist mill, and the little settlement grew. In fact, by 1800, more than 250 buildings had been built in what was then called Northampton. On December 17, 1776, Colonel Samuel Griffin crossed the Delaware with 600 Continental soldiers and marched into Northampton and set up artillery pieces on Iron Works Hill.The Hessian commanders believed that there were 3,000 troops in town. On December 23, approximately 3,000 Hessian troops led by Carl von Donop, positioned themselves nearby and for the next three days, the Battle of Iron Works Hill ensued. Colonel Griffin and his Continental Army troops slipped away. The battle had prevented von Donop from being in nearby Bordentown, where he had been assigned in order to assist Johann Rall and his brigade in Trenton. His absence allowed General George Washington and his troops to defeat Rall after making the famous crossing of the Delaware while the Battle of Iron Works Hill kept the Hessians busy. In November of 1931, it was officially renamed Mount Holly due to the hills which are covered with holly trees.

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