Move over, Rosewood and Black Wall Street, and make room for Timbuctoo. In the 1820s, freed and escaped blacks formed the self-sustaining town well before the Civil War and emancipation. Timbuctoo survived through the end of slavery in New Jersey, the Fugitive Slave Act and the Jim Crow era. The last families didn't leave until the 1950s. At its peak, Timbuctoo was home to more than 150 people. New Jersey is home to much more than The Real Housewives. We're pretty sure that they won't be making a reality show about something real like Timbuctoo anytime soon.
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—Nsenga K. Burton
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