Annual Historic House Tour to Highlight Mill, Cemeteries Saturday

Steeped in history, Washington Township has become a treasure to visit and learn about.

And for the 32nd time, the Washington Township Historical Society will be hosting its annual Historic House Tour this Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year’s tour will highlight historic homes and two local cemeteries, as well as the Obadiah Latourette Grist and Saw Mill and Middle Valley Community Center.

According to the Historical Society, the following locations will be on the tour:

The German Valley Rural Cemetery is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and is welcoming visitors to tour the cemetery the day of the tour. The cemetery was founded on October 7, 1865 and is a nondenominational, public cemetery. Included in the tour is the quaint, well-preserved Naughright Memorial Chapel (c1880) which will house the original Journal of minutes. The cemetery is the final resting place in the Naughright area of Washington Township including Louis Richard Schoenheit who is documented in the Library of Congress as one of the pallbearers at President Lincoln’s funeral. It is also the final resting place for approximately 90 veterans who served in wars from the Civil War up to the Vietnam War.

The Middle Valley Cemetery’s earliest extant gravestone dates from 1794. By 1867 it was expanded to its present size and in 1910 the Middle Valley Cemetery Association was formed and continues today. A memorial marker was placed in the cemetery in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Samuel Schwachhamer settling in the valley in 1732. Other family plots include the Neighbors, Duffords, Trimmers, Orts and Beams – all prominent families in the Middle Valley area. Docents will be at both cemeteries to guide visitors through and give brief histories.

This year’s tour will also include three homes which have never been on the tour before. A lovely c1850 barn renovation is the Scrappy Corners section of town will amaze tour-goers. The original barns were built on property owned by Matthias Trimmer.

Another house on the mountain in the original Middle Valley section was built c. 1850 is built on property once owned by David Miller. The foundation is fieldstone, quite popular on the mountain considering the easy access to stone, and some of the exterior walls are fieldstone which were at one time covered with stucco.

The Jacob Karn home on West Mill Road is a c. 1840 five bay frame home and is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the Apgars had one of the finest peach orchards in the area on this property.

In 1891 several Middle Valley residents purchased the Jacob Welsh store which is now the Middle Valley Community Center. It was used for both religious services and as a meeting hall for various lodges and the Ladies Home Union Society of Middle Valley.

A landmark in the German Valley Historic District is the Obabdiah Latourette Grist and Saw Mill. Built c 1750 by Philip Weise, it used the water power from the South Branch of the Raritan River and only ceased operation at the start of WWII. The Washington Township Land Trust is continuing its efforts to restore and preserve this historic site.

Tickets for the tour are $25 on the day of the event, or $20 in advance by emailing info@wthsnj.org or by calling 98-876-9696.