A reenactment of the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 visit to Trenton is scheduled for next week, marking the 200th anniversary of the event. The reenactment will take place on September 25, 2024, at the New Jersey State House. Reenactor Michael Halbert will portray Lafayette, receiving a welcome from local officials in the same State House building that hosted the original event. The State House is the nation’s third oldest legislative building still in use. “Many historians believe Lafayette’s farewell tour was the second most important event in American history in the 1800s, after the Civil War, of course,” said Paul Larson of Lawrence Township, who is managing New Jersey’s commemoration of the Lafayette bicentennial. “Lafayette was the most popular person in America and attracted huge crowds. He was the original rockstar.” The day’s events will begin with a lecture by Princeton University’s Sean Wilentz at the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton at 10 am. Dr. Wilentz will discuss Lafayette’s role during a polarizing time in American politics. “The Grand Farewell Tour of Lafayette in 1824 occurred during a polarizing presidential election that was pulling the country apart,” said Dr. Wilentz. “Two hundred years later, the nation is again deeply divided amid a pivotal election.” The State House reenactment is scheduled for 3 p.m., with attendees asked to arrive by 2:30 p.m. A Grand Welcome Reception will follow at the Historic Trenton Masonic Hall at 100 Barrack Street. On September 26, additional events are planned at the site of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, now known as the Steeple Center. These include a lunch, cemetery walk, wreath-laying ceremony, and a reenactment of Lafayette’s meeting with Hannah Till, an African American cook who worked for George Washington and Lafayette. The public can register for the State House reenactment and purchase tickets for the evening reception through the American Friends of Lafayette website. Registration for the Steeple Center events is available on the 120 East State Street website. Princeton University’s Firestone Library has also created a virtual collection of Lafayette-related items from its archives, available to the public online. Organizers advise checking the American Friends of Lafayette website and Facebook page, as well as lafayette200.org, for potential updates to the bicentennial events.