Denville and the Denville Historical Society marked one of the town’s oldest Revolutionary War chapters on Tuesday, June 23, honoring the night a warning beacon was lit on what is now Beacon Hill.
Denville Historian Vito Bianco gave a presentation on how General George Washington ordered a chain of hilltop lookouts built across the hills of North Jersey. Crews at those posts lit signal fires to pass word quickly about British movements. On June 23, 1780, the Denville beacon was lit to alert Patriot forces that the British were advancing toward the Battle of Springfield in Union County.
To mark the anniversary, organizers sent beams of light into the night sky over the beacon’s old location, a glow that could be seen across the Township and a modern stand-in for the fire that once burned there. The commemoration, called “Light Up the Night”, ran from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Flicker Terrace.
Township officials said the beacon warned neighboring outposts of approaching British activity, and that British forces never pushed into Morris County after the Battle of Springfield, effectively ending their New Jersey campaign.
The evening was part of Denville’s broader America 250 programming, the town’s year of events honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026 under the theme “Small Town, Big History, One Nation.”
The Beacon Hill section still carries the name of that wartime signal post, a reminder of Denville’s place along a key line of communication during the fight for independence. More community events fill the calendar as the town heads into the July 4 holiday weekend.
