Monmouth County, NJ - Looking for something fun to do with the kids this spring?

The New Jersey State History Fair will be Saturday, May 14 at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan. The fair will go from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. Five centuries of New Jersey's history will be represented by exhibitors from all 21 New Jersey counties, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania. Highlights of the day's programs will include an exhibit that features a replica of President Abraham Lincoln's casket with the 14th NJ Volunteers serving as an Honor Guard. A series of historical presentations will be given on such Civil War-era topics as music, literature, and soldiers' personal accounts of their service.

Kenneth Serfass, who will portray General Ulysses S. Grant, will talk about his relationship with the late President Lincoln. Many other favorite activities will return including 19th century baseball, plowing demonstrations, Lenape foodways, antique cars and historical figures from New Jersey's past. One of the largest battles of the American Revolution took place in the fields and forests that now make up Monmouth Battlefield State Park. The park preserves a rural 18th-century landscape of hilly farmland and hedgerows that encompasses miles of hiking and horseback riding trails, picnic areas, a restored Revolutionary War farmhouse and a new Visitor Center that opened to the public on Flag Day 2013. The park is easily accessible from Routes 9 and 33. The fair is free to attend, and parking is $10.