Somerset County Business Partnership

Tours > Jewels of History: Somerset County

Somerset County contains some of the oldest settlements in New Jersey some dating to the middle of the 17th century. The county also has a long tradition of preservation and restoration, which is an ongoing celebration of the American
past.

Revolutionary War Sites

Day 1

Rockingham State Historic Site – Washington’s Last Revolutionary War Headquarters

County Route 603 (Laurel Avenue/Rocky Hill-Kingston Road)

Franklin Township, near Kingston

(mailing address: P.O. Box 496, Kingston, NJ 08528)

609-683-7132

Wed-Sat, 10-12, 1-4; Sun 1-4. Closed Mon-Tues, state & federal holidays, and Weds after Monday holidays.

Free

Rockingham,owned at the time by Mrs. Margaret Berrien, served as General George Washington's last war-time headquarters from August-November 1783 while the Continental Congress met in Princeton. It was here that Washington wrote the Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States. Rockingham is a living history museum with a fine collection of antiques and artifacts. Due to the small size of the staff, it is best to confirm that the site is open. Guided tours only. Groups of more than 10 must make a reservation.

Wallace House and Dutch Parsonage

The Wallace House – Washington’s Headquarters -- and the Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites

71 Somerset Street, Somerville, NJ 08876

908-725-1015

Wed-Sat, 10-12, 1-4; Sun 1-4. Closed Mon-Tues, state & federal holidays, and Wed after Monday holidays.

Free

While the Continental Army was camped along the Watchung Mountains during the Middlebrook Cantonment, the Wallace House, built in 1776 as Hope Farm, was the headquarters of George Washington, Dec 1778 to June 1779. The Rev. John Frelinghuysen, the first occupant of the 1751 Old Dutch Parsonage, served three Dutch Reformed churches in the Raritan Valley. Jacob Hardenbergh, the second pastor, held theological classes that constituted the beginning of Queens College, later Rutgers University.

Mannion's Pub & Restaurant

Washington Rock State Park

Stop for lunch:

Mannion’s Pub and Restaurant,

150 West Main Street,

Somerville; 908-203-0700

Washington Rock State Park

Washington Rock Road, Green Brook

201-915-3404

Open dawn to dusk

With an impressive view of the Raritan Valley, this strategic location made it a valuable lookout point for George Washington during the War for Independence. From this natural rock outcropping, the general had a thirty-mile panoramic view of the valley and was able to keep tabs on the movements of the British

troops. Bring a picnic lunch, relax, and enjoy the view.

Jacobus Vanderveer House

US Route 202/206

Bedminster

info@jvanderveerhouse.com

908-212-7000 x611 to request a tour

For further information and access, call Mary Bittrich, 908-234-2665

The Jacobus Vanderveer House is the last surviving building associated with the Vanderveers, a family prominent in Bedminster Township history from its earliest settlement through the 19th century. The home served as the headquarters for General Henry Knox during the winter of 1778-79, when the American artillery was in the village of Pluckemin during the Second Middlebrook Encampment. It is an excellent example of a Dutch-American house. The interior contains massive exposed beams as well as Federal, Greek Revival and Victorian woodwork. The house is owned by Bedminster Township and is being restored.

Lord Stirling Manor Site – Somerset County Environmental Center

Lord Stirling Road, Bernards Township

908-766-2489

The Lord Stirling 1770s Festival -- First Sunday in October, 10:30am - 4:30pm.
Colonial history lives at the Somerset County Park Commission's annual 1770s Festival when Lord Stirling's grand manor house and estate come to life in Lord Stirling Park in Bernards Township. Colonial craftspeople ply their trades, and a Revolutionary War military detachment conducts maneuvers and camps on the lawn of the former estate. The event promotes historical and environmental education by highlighting this unsung Revolutionary War hero, demonstrating the colonial heritage of New Jersey, and recreating a typical autumn afternoon in 1770. (In 2001, the Lord Stirling 1770s Festival won the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association's Excellence in Educational Programming Award.) Nearly 50 people attired in period dress participate in the festival, demonstrating their trades and crafts (no crafts are sold), making buttons, rifles, brooms, furniture, lace, stained glass, redware pottery, and powder horns. Other trades and crafts include blacksmithing, tinsmithing, wool spinning, decoy carving, and demonstrations of use of colonial herbs. Children of all ages enjoy the hayrides, clay crafts using Stirling clay, stenciling, and toy making. Visitors may try on colonial apparel and have their photograph taken while restrained by the Somerset Gaoler's wooden stocks. Suggested donation, $4.

Archaeological Excavation -- In addition, the environmental center sponsors the Lenape Meadow Excavation, a public archaeology project with spring and fall programs. Participation is based solely on interest for ages 15 or above (or under 15 with an adult). The site has attracted high-school students, members of the general public, avocational archaeologists, and graduate students in archaeology and other fields. Project sessions are conducted on Sundays, 9 am to 2 pm, April-June and September-November. Participation is limited, so register early by calling the Somerset County Environmental Education Center (908-766-2489). Additional work may be done on finds uncovered from a previous excavation at the Lord Stirling Manor site.

For more information, call (908-766-2489).

Stop for dinner:

The Dead River Pub

(inside the Inn at Somerset Hills)

80 Allen Road, Basking Ridge

908-580-1300

Day 2

Many Somerset County graveyards make fascinating self guided tours. Often visitors can spot the graves of soldiers, patriots, and even spies. Most churches and cemetery associations don’t mind respectful visitors.

The Presbyterian Church at Pluckemin

Route 202-206 South, Pluckemin, NJ 07978

908-658-3346

This Pluckemin church, which dates to about 1720, barely survived through the American Revolution, which brought British troops and Washington's army to the area. An early log church was erected on the mountainside about a mile and a quarter east of the present site; in 1758, the first church, a stone structure called St. Paul’s, was built on the present site in Pluckemin village. British Capt. William Leslie, mortally wounded at the Battle of Princeton, was buried with full military honors in the Pluckemin churchyard. The captain, whose body was placed in a baggage wagon that was later captured, had known American Dr. Benjamin Rush when the doctor studied medicine in Edinburgh. After the war the doctor put a marker on the grave as a gesture of respect to the family. (A second cemetery is located just east of the jct. of Routes 202/206 on Washington Valley Road.)

The Presbyterian Church

1 East Oak Street

Basking Ridge

908-766-1616

George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette are said to have picnicked here in the late 1770s. About 35 Revolutionary War soldiers are buried in this well-preserved cemetery, under the 600-year-old white oak tree.

Stop for lunch:

The Store Restaurant

55 South Finley Avenue

Basking Ridge

908-766-9853

Willie's Tavern

Route 202 and Hillside Avenue

Bedminster

908-234-1596

Bedminster Reformed Church Cemetery, Route 202/206 South, just south of Lamington Road. Julie Knox (d. July 2, 1779), infant daughter of General Henry Knox, is buried here. The confidant of George Washington and leader of the Artillery Corps, Gen. Knox was headquartered in the nearby Vanderveer House during the Middlebrook Cantonment (1778-1779). Because Julie had not yet been baptized, Gen. and Mrs. Knox were forced to bury her outside the cemetery’s gates. Over the years, however, the cemetery expanded, and her grave is now within the grounds.

The Hendrick Fisher Homestead

Grounds of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Easton Avenue

South Bound Brook

732-356-0090

The Hendrick Fisher Homestead, believed to be the oldest historic structure in Somerset County, stands a few hundred feet away from Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The 1688 home remains, although subsequent additions and alteration have changed the building from the original farmhouse. Patriot Hendrick Fisher, the first president of New Jersey’s Provincial Congress, served the colony as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Member of the Colonial Assembly for 30 years and for some time its powerful leader, New Jersey Representative at the Continental Congress of 1765, President of the Colonial Assembly, Member of the Committee of Governors, President of The First Provincial Congress of New Jersey (1775), and President of the New Jersey Delegation to the Continental Congress.

Hendrick Fisher was present for the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and he brought a copy of the historic document with him when he returned home. Three days later, Fisher read the Declaration of Independence to the residents of Bound Brook at the Frelinghuysen Tavern (formerly on Main Street, just west of Maiden Lane.) A plaque marks this historic event. In 1776, when Lord Howe offered full pardon to those who would give up their allegiance to the American cause, he specifically excluded Fisher, his neighbor Abraham Staats, and two other uncompromising patriots. Fisher was branded an outlaw and "enemy of the Crown."

In April 1777, the British army, on its way to New Brunswick, raided the Fisher Homestead, hoping to capture him for their king. Not finding him at home, they plundered his barn and livestock, resulting in losses totaling $707.50, a substantial sum in those days. Fisher died before the conclusion of the Revolution and his body rests in the family burial ground, in a special fenced section of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery. This private home is open to the public for special events, in April (Battle of Bound Brook reenactment) and December.