Celebrating Bordentown’s French connections at the estate of Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte

The mayors of a small city in New Jersey and a little village near Paris marked Bastille Day Friday at the former estate of a historical figure who called both places home.

The celebration outside City Hall in Bordentown, Burlington County, also showcased the new state park at Point Breeze, where the international diplomat Joseph Bonaparte — Napoleon’s older brother — built an estate modeled on the one he left behind in Mortefontaine, France.

» READ MORE: The former King of Spain was a Jersey guy, and his Bordentown estate is being turned into a park

The elder Bonaparte, who became the king of Spain as well as king of Naples during an eventful lifetime (1768-1844), was a renowned horticulturalist as well.

“It’s easy to see why Joseph Bonaparte wanted to be here,” Bordentown Mayor Jennifer Sciortino told the audience. “It’s stunning.”

Bonaparte intended his French castle and gardens to be “more than Versailles” in size, said Mortefontaine Mayor Jacques Fabre.

While Bonaparte Castle is privately owned and not open to the public, “if you come to Mortefontaine, you will be very welcome,” said Fabre, adding that he hopes local high school students from the two sister cities can visit one another’s countries.

The event, featuring speeches in English and French, as well as the national anthems and flags of both countries, was held in a pavilion surrounded by a verdant landscape on the Bordentown Bluffs overlooking the confluence of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River. Warehouse and condominium developers had been vying for the site three years earlier.

But the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the City of Bordentown, and the D&R Greenway Land Trust jointly purchased Point Breeze from Divine Word Missionaries, the Catholic order that had owned it since 1941, for $4.6 million. The city contributed $1.9 million and has renovated three Divine Word buildings into a campus of municipal facilities.

James E. Lynch Jr., former Bordentown mayor and current city commissioner, spoke at the event and said city officials had long believed that the property would never be sold. But in early 2020, Lynch said he got a call from one of the few remaining priests at the facility who told him Point Breeze was on the market.

“There was an offer from a developer who wanted to put three warehouses there,” Lynch said.

“Another developer wanted to build 1,000 condos on the property.”

But Peter Tucci, a collector of Joseph Bonaparte memorabilia and artifacts, had already begun to focus public attention on Point Breeze and its potential as a public place. And the nonprofit Land Trust, founded in 1989, had acquired “a lot of expertise in bringing together complex land deals,” said Nancy Faherty, director of donor and community engagement.

She spoke to a reporter at the Point Breeze Gardener’s House prior to the event. The circa-1820 structure is the sole building from the Bonaparte estate remaining on the site; it has been restored, renamed the Discovery Center at Point Breeze, and includes displays about history and horticulture.

Tucci, who was master of ceremonies at the Bastille Day event, also credited a dedicated group of local volunteers, including members of the Bordentown Historical Society, with helping make the new park a reality.

“There were many times I thought it wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “It’s exciting, and a win-win for everybody.”

Tucci also said there seems to be a surge of interest in all things Bonaparte.

A historical society exhibit of his Joseph Bonaparte memorabilia and artifacts collection has attracted 2,000 visitors, he said. And the release this week of a trailer for director Ridley Scott’s forthcoming film Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix, “is creating Oscar buzz,” he said.