Wallace House (1776) - Somerville, NJ
N 40° 34.141 W 074° 37.282
18T E 532050 N 4490984
The Wallace House was completed in 1776 as Hope Farm for John Wallace, a successful Phila. merchant. Gen. Washington leased the house for use as his headquarters during the Middlebrook Winter Encampment, December 11, 1778, to June 3, 1779.
Waymark Code: WM5CZT
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/20/2008
Views: 16
This house is one of the best and most original examples of Georgian architecture in New Jersey. The period rooms of the Mansion are set to reflect their use and occupation by the officers and staff of General George Washington. Residing at Rockingham between August and November of 1783 during the final days of the American War for Independence, the General and Mrs. Washington passed the time at one of the most elegant country estates in the Millstone River Valley.
The Wallace House was built about 1776 and served as the headquarters of General Washington during the Middlebrook encampment of 1778-79 in Somerset County. Other sites associated with the encampment are located in neighboring towns. The Wallace House is restored and interpreted as the home of an upper-middle class family returning to normal life after the departure of Washington and his entourage.
The Old Dutch Parsonage was the home of the first ministers of the first Dutch Reformed congregation in the Somerville/ Raritan area. It is also the ancestral home of the Frelinghuysens, a New Jersey family that has contributed ministers, patriots, and statesmen to New Jersey history. The Parsonage is also associated with he founding of Old Queens College and Seminary (currently Rutgers University and The New Brunswick Theological Seminary). Jacob Hardenburgh, second minister to occupy the Parsonage, was one of the founders of Queens, and later served as its president.
Several yearly events are co-sponsored by the Friends of the Wallace House and Old Dutch parsonage and the Park Service. These include:
- George Washington's Birthday Celebration
- Spring and Fall events
- An Eighteenth Century Holiday Diversion
The Wallace House became a museum in 1898, and both the Wallace House and the Old Dutch Parsonage became state sites in 1948.