Timbuctoo, New Jersey


Timbuctoo is an unincorporated community in Westampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States.
Located along the Rancocas Creek, Timbuctoo was founded by former slaves in 1826. At its peak in the mid-nineteenth century, Timbuctoo had more than 125 residents, a school, and the , which was part of the AME Zion denomination. The church included a cemetery that remains today.

History

Timbuctoo was founded by free blacks and former slaves in 1826, in a region of New Jersey where the influence of Quakers was strong. Timbuctoo appeared on Burlington County maps as early 1849, and continues to appear on maps today.
In 1860, the took place in Timbuctoo, and it was reported in the , a local newspaper. It involved armed residents of Timbuctoo preventing the capture of Perry Simmons, an escaped slave living in Timbuctoo, by an infamous slave catcher named George Alberti.
The US Census identified the "Village of Timbuctoo" as a separate entity within Westampton Township for the first time in 1880, enumerating 108 residents and 29 households.
Today, the key remaining evidence of Timbuctoo's historical significance is a cemetery, well known for gravestones of US Colored Troops who fought in the Civil War. However, there are also civilian gravestones, the oldest of which dates to 1847, thirteen years before the Civil War. A geophysical survey conducted in 2009 identified at least 59 unmarked graves.
Current residents and landowners include descendants of early settlers.