A Historic Free Black Community Founded in 1826

Timbuctoo was established by formerly enslaved and free Black people decades before the Civil War. Its residents built homes, established institutions, owned land, defended their community, and created opportunities for succeeding generations during an era when enslavement remained legal in New Jersey and throughout much of the United States. Notably, Timbuctoo had the advantage of being located in the southern region of New Jersey, where progress in emancipation was greater, due to Quaker influence in the southern counties, as well as other factors.  For a full discussion of this phenomenon, see  Timbuctoo and the first Emancipation of the Early Nineteenth Century.

Timbuctoo is one of many antebellum free Black settlements established in New Jersey during the antebellum period. Most of these were in the southern region of the state.  Timbuctoo was not unusual as a Black community that demonstrated success in antebellum community development in southern New Jersey, but it may be unique in the extent and recovery of its documentary record. Compelling documentation of land ownership, development of institutions, literacy, and collective resistance makes Timbuctoo stand out.  

Today, Timbuctoo is recognized as an important site of Black history in New Jersey.  Explore the people, places, documents, and events that tell this extraordinary story.

Timbuctoo History
Learn about Timbuctoo's founding, early landowners, families, institutions, and development as a free Black community.

Timbuctoo Historic Site  

Explore what remains of historic Timbuctoo today, including its cemetery, historic landscape, archaeology, and important places and events.

Timbuctoo Cemetery
Discover Timbuctoo's most tangible surviving historic resource and the people whose lives are documented there.

Research & Publications
Read original research, scholarly articles, historical documents, newspaper accounts, genealogical research, and publications about Timbuctoo.

Archaeology
Learn what archaeological investigations have revealed about everyday life in this nineteenth-century Black community.

Education
Explore curriculua, classroom resources, primary sources, and other materials developed to bring Timbuctoo's history into schools.

The Timbuctoo Historical Society was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Westampton Township. The Society owns the historic Timbuctoo Cemetery and leads ongoing preservation, research, interpretation, and educational activities relating to the community. Our work has included cemetery preservation and archaeology, interpretive signage, original historical and genealogical research, scholarly publications, educational programming, curriculum development in collaboration with local schools, digitization of historical sources, and public lectures and presentations. Timbuctoo has also received important state and national recognition, including inclusion on the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail and the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

In 2026, we commemorate the 200th anniversary of Timbuctoo's founding.

The bicentennial provides an opportunity not only to celebrate two centuries of Black history, but also to preserve the places, documents, memories, and family histories that connect Timbuctoo's nineteenth-century founders with the community today.

We celebrated this milestone on September 19, 2026 with an exhibit opening and reception at the Burlington County Historical Society. The celebration will continue with the publication of New Jersey's Timbuctoo: A Free Black Community Before the Civil War, slated for release by the History Press on January 5, 2027. Stay tuned for details on the book launch!

Through scholarship, preservation, archaeology, education, and public engagement, the Timbuctoo Historical Society works to ensure that the achievements and experiences of this historic free Black community remain part of America's historical record.

Explore Timbuctoo's History
Research & Publications
Educational Resources
Support Our Work