What do a dinosaur, George Washington, Alice Paul, the Lenni Lenape tribe, family farmers, Revolutionary War iron workers and glass manufacturers all have in common? They all play a part in South Jersey’s heritage.

There’s millions of years worth of heritage in South Jersey and lots of it is still there for you to explore, starting with the spot in Haddonfield that marks the place where William Foulke discovered the first almost-complete dinosaur skeleton in 1858. But even before the discovery that shook up the scientific world, South Jersey was making its mark.

At the Rankokus Indian Reservation, a museum and re-created traditional village depicts the lives of the Original People who were here long before the Swedish settlers settled the Main Streets of Salem and Swedesboro.

When the colonists finally had enough and stood up to King George, South Jersey played a big role in the fight for independence. From Washington’s Crossing Park where Washington crossed the Delaware to the Quaker farmhouse that was used as a field hospital at Red Bank Battlefield, sites recounting the nation’s earliest days still stand to tell the tale.

From the very beginning, agriculture shaped the region’s culture and it still does. Family owned farms – dozens and dozens of them – still thrive and many of them invite you to share the experience with pick your own farming. From the famed Pine Barrens to the perimeters of Princeton, farming and agriculture are still vital to the region.

Other spots celebrate the distinct culture of South Jersey. Spend a Saturday night at Adams Music Hall and you’ll find out what real “Piney” music and life is like. Or, for the truly daring, spend an evening on a hunt for the elusive Jersey Devil with the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, probably one of the most iconic cultural symbols that has survived for generations.