ADVISORY: The main wing of Wallace House is temporarily closed to visitors until rehabilitation of roof and chimneys is complete. Old Dutch Parsonage and the kitchen wing of Wallace House remain open for guided tours and special events.
Call on the commander in chief and follow New Jersey’s colonial colleges and founding faiths into the American Revolution at Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage.
Wallace House, home of a Philadelphia merchant, served as George Washington’s winter headquarters while Old Dutch Parsonage, residence of Dutch Reformed Church ministers, was home to delegates to the Provincial Congress that declared New Jersey’s independence.
Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage Seasonal Hiring September 2024
The Dutch Reformed Church in New Jersey’s Raritan River Valley constructed Old Dutch Parsonage in 1751. Here the Great Awakening preacher Rev. Johannes Frelinghuysen boarded and tutored students including his eventual successor the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh. From this house, Rev. Hardenbergh led the effort in 1766 to charter Queen’s College, today Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Dutch emigrant Dinah Van Bergh, wife in succession to both ministers, was herself a leader in New Jersey’s Dutch Reformed Church. Discover eighteenth-century New Jersey’s religious and national diversity and early leadership in American higher education at Old Dutch Parsonage.
Philadelphia merchant John Wallace’s New Jersey country home, the largest private dwelling built in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War, served as Gen. Washington’s winter headquarters for the 1778-79 Middlebrook Cantonment. Aides-de-camp John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton conferred with the commander in chief here while Martha Washington joined her husband to host an American Indian delegation and diplomats from France and Spain. Hear the histories of women and men in slavery and freedom who composed Gen. Washington’s “military family” during the Continental Army’s most successful winter camp.
Wallace House served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Middlebrook Cantonment, the Continental Army’s 1778-79 winter camp along the Watchung Mountains in Somerset County.
Additional generals of the Continental Army stayed at historic houses still standing throughout Somerset County today. Nathanael Greene’s headquarters at Van Veghten House now holds the library and archives of the Somerset County Historical Society. Lord Stirling’s headquarters at Van Horne House is home to the Heritage Trail Association. Friends of Abraham Staats House preserve and interpret Baron Von Steuben’s headquarters in South Bound Brook.
To the north in Bedminster, Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum preserves Henry Knox’s headquarters and shares the history of the Pluckemin Cantonment, winter camp for the Continental Army’s artillery and home to the nation’s first military academy.
Learn more about upcoming programs and tours at the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Historic Sites by visiting our EventBrite page.
Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Site hosts “New Jersey’s Declarations of Independence” in June and “Colonial Colleges Yule Log” in December. Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage participate in Somerset County’s Weekend Journey Through the Past in October.
Wallace House State Historic Site participates in the Heritage Trail Association’s “Five Generals” tour of historic houses from the 1778-79 Middlebrook Cantonment with the Friends of the Abraham Staats House, Somerset County Historical Society and Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum.
Facilities for People with Disabilities
We encourage people with disabilities who require special considerations to contact the historic site / park at the phone number listed in the general information on the home page of the historic site / park. The staff will assist with arrangements. Text telephone (TT) users, please call the NJ Relay Services at (800) 852-7899.
For the Comfort and Enjoyment of All
This historic site / park is part of the NJ State Park system and your cooperation with the following will help ensure the survival of the museum collections, historic structures & features and surrounding property for the enjoyment and education of future generations!
Please contact this historic site / park with specific inquiries about any of these restrictions, as there may be some variations at this specific historic site / park.
Round Valley Recreation Area
Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Association
Phone Number
908-725-1015
Address
71 Somerset Street
Somerville, NJ 08876
Email
wallacedutch@dep.nj.gov
Tours Historic houses open by guided tour only. Call or email for free appointments available Wednesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Special Events & Programs Full schedule online: wallacedutch.eventbrite.com
Entrance Fee Admission is free, Reservation fees apply for large groups (10+) and offsite interpretive programs.
GPS Coordinates
40.569788, -74.622562