Middletown, NJ Had Its Own Version of the Boston Tea Party

America celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2026. While you're likely familiar with the Battle of Monmouth and local historical figures in the American Revolution like Joshua Huddy and Molly Pitcher, there are lesser known episodes that took place in Monmouth County around the time of our nation's founding that are just as fascinating. Case in point: Middletown took part in their own version of the Boston Tea Party.

New Jersey was the bloodiest of the Northern states during the American Revolution, with over 600 battles and skirmishes, according to the Crossroads of the American Revolution Association. (Being stuck between New York and Philadelphia has been our cross to bear since the beginning, turns out.)

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Crossroads of the American Revolution Centered on Monmouth

Out of all of New Jersey, the area that bore the heaviest burden in terms of bloodshed was Monmouth County. The state, the county, and Middletown in particular, was deeply divided between Loyalist and Patriot sympathies. Guerrilla warfare saw neighbor fighting neighbor.

This contentious time period and the particular hot bed Monmouth County became is even the focus of a new award-winning documentary. Adam Worth's Monmouth County at War: Rebels, Raiders, & Revolution was commissioned by the county ahead of the 250th anniversary. It recently premiered at the Garden State Film Festival, where it won the Best NJ Documentary award.

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Middletown's Tea Party in Sandy Hook Bay

In April of 1776, a year after the American Revolution started with the Battle of Lexington and Concord and nearly three years since the Boston Tea Party, Middletowners received word of a British ship carrying tea anchored in Sandy Hook Bay. The ship was waiting for a pilot to lead it into New York Harbor to bring the tea to Manhattan.

A group of them boarded a small boat at night, rowed out to the ship, and dumped the tea overboard. The episode is recounted in Ernest Mandeville's 1927 book The Story of Middletown. Mandeville notes that the Middletown residents ordered the ship's captain back out to sea under penalty of death.

Mandeville doesn't tell us who was involved in the raid or what happened to the ship afterward.

If you're a local history buff, The Story of Middletown is well worth a read. It details many of the fascinating moments of early Middletown, including the fact that one New Jersey governor called Middletowners "the most ignorant and wicked people in the world." And, by the way, he said this a year before residents kidnapped and jailed a different governor.

Monmouth County has a series of events and activities planned around America's 250th birthday. You can learn more at monmouthnj250.org.

Fascinated by Monmouth County's history? Keep scrolling to learn some things you might not know about Sandy Hook: