Your next stop? NJ small town named one of the 15 best nationwide

There are several thousand small towns dotting the U.S.

So it's a pretty big deal to be named as one of the 15 best in the entire country.

A New Jersey township received that very distinction on June 11, when Smithsonian Magazine published the latest edition of its annual editorial feature, which listed the 15 best small towns to visit in 2024.

The New Jersey winner shares the honor with small towns all over the map, including a suburb of Philadelphia:

⚫ Scituate, Massachusetts

⚫ Humboldt, Kansas

⚫ Hot Springs, South Dakota

⚫ Sleepy Hollow, New York

⚫ Aspen, Colorado

⚫ Haleiwa, Hawaii

⚫ Santa Ynez, California

⚫ Huntingburg, Indiana

⚫ Superior, Arizona

⚫ Beaufort, South Carolina

⚫ Arco, Idaho

⚫ Floyd, Virginia

⚫ Silver City, New Mexico

⚫ Kennett Square Pennsylvania,

Best small town in New Jersey

The home of Rowan University and about 24,000 people, Glassboro is the lone New Jersey name to be included in the Smithsonian Magazine feature.

The magazine credits the Gloucester County township for its diverse establishments, like the Heritage Glass Museum. Downtown's Rowan Boulevard offers an array of shops and eateries, along with escape rooms, and Cookie Munchers for your sweet tooth.

"To share company among the many incredible and dynamic small towns across the country in the Smithsonian Magazine this year is not only a win for Glassboro, but also a win for all of New Jersey," said Jeff Vasser, executive director of the New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism.

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The article gives the most attention to the highly anticipated 2024 opening of a fossil park and museum at Rowan.

"The 65-acre fossil park is the only site east of the Mississippi where you can actively dig for fossilized remains from the Late Cretaceous period, which ended 66 million years ago, and its 44,000-square-foot eco-friendly structure is everything that a world-class museum should be," the article says.

The group Visit South Jersey expects more travelers to the region from "all parts of the world" when the park/museum opens up.

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