Wallace House - Your Passport to Adventure - 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 Philadelphia merchant. General Washington leased the house for use as his headquarters during the Middlebrook Winter Encampment, December 11, 1778, to June 3, 1779.
Waymark Code: WM6YVC
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2009
Views: 13
Passport Program Information
The NJ Parks and Forests Service came out with a passport book for collecting stamps for visiting a select sampling of our states parks, forests and historic sites. Many fine places did not make the list but many beautiful and culturally important sites did make the list so I suppose it all evens out in the end. The passport book is divided into 3 sections, north, central and south Jersey. This stamp and the Wallace House represent the eleventh listing for Central New Jersey. If it was not for the release of a puzzle cache a few years ago and my obsession at the time for first to finds, I would never have visited all 24 sites of central and southern NJ. The puzzle cache is called Passport To Adventure (Central Jersey Challenge) and can be found HERE. The stamp and the passport books are free. To find out more about our fabulous passport program please visit HERE.
Wallace House Information
The Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage are historic sites dating from the 18th century. They are owned and administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry/ DEP. The Friends of the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage are a non-profit support group for these sites. Located on Washington Place in Somerville, both sites are open to the public. For Visitors' Information or to schedule your visit, please call (908) 725-1015. To subscribe to the site newsletter, email hjmcs@optonline.net
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 Wallace House became a museum in 1898, and both the Wallace House and the Old Dutch Parsonage became state sites in 1948.
