Revolutionary War Fort Billingsfort is located on the corner of the Paulsboro terminal site. This site has already been designated as a New Jersey Historic Area. There are no tanks or pipelines located on the actual site of the fort. In fact, the site of the fort borders a municipal park.

The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Paulsboro recently established the Fort Billingsport Homeland Security Preservation Committee. Walter Quint chairs this committee. The ultimate goal of the committee is to restore this historic fort.

To amplify the importance of this parcel of land, we have included the following information about the history and significance of both the fort and its designer.

• The events in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776 are well known. On July 5, 1776 the Congress of the United States of America made is first land purchase. This one hundred acre plot of land is located in what is now the Billingsport section of Paulbsoro, Gloucester County, New Jersey. On this historic site, Fort Billingsfort was constructed in order to blockade the British fleet from reaching Philadelphia.
   
• Fort Billingsfort was, indeed, built and the Delaware River blockaded. The British military sent a ground force of 1,500 soldiers to capture the fort. In addition, a significant naval task force was required to clear the blockade. As a result, ,the British advance to Philadelphia was slowed which allowed Forts Mercer and Mifflin to prepare for battle.
   
• The military actions in and around Fort Billingfort made an important contribution to the success of the American Revolution. As the first federal land purchase, Paulsboro is the "Birthplace of Homeland Security."
   
• Early in the American Revolution, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish military engineer, came to Philadelphia to volunteer his services. General George Washington promptly commissioned Kosciuszko. His first project was the construction of the Fort Billingsfort.
   
• Throughout the Revolution, General Koschiusko proved himself to be a genius in the areas of fort location and fortification. One of this most significant tasks was the successful fortification and blockade of the Hudson River at West Point, New York.
   
• President Thomas Jefferson admired Kosciuszko. He recognized the need for the United States to train its own military engineers. As a result, in 1802 Jefferson established the United States Military Academy at the site of Koschiuszko's fortification at West Point.
   

It all started in Paulsboro!
 

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