Learn About the History, People and Buildings
General George Washington's Headquarters
Middlebrook Cantonment
Middlebrook, New Jersey served as the Continental Army’s most successful winter cantonment, where improved leadership, organization, and supply transformed the post–Valley Forge army into a healthier, better trained, and more confident fighting force.
Wallace House
Built by merchant John Wallace as “Hope Farm,” the Wallace House became General George Washington’s headquarters during the Middlebrook encampment of 1778–1779, where he and his staff planned key strategies of the Revolutionary War.
John Wallace, a Scottish immigrant and successful merchant, and Mary Maddox, born in Philadelphia to a prominent family, married in 1749 and lived in Philadelphia. In 1775 they bought land on the Raritan and built their new home where they resided for the remainder of their lives.
Generals George Washington, Friedrich Willhelm von Steuben, Henry Knox, William Alexander (also known as Lord Stirling) and Quartermaster Nathanael Greene were the five officers of the Middlebrook Cantonment. The houses they occupied are open to visitors.
Though called the Old Dutch Parsonage, the 1751 house reflects an early “Proto-Georgian” English architectural style that evolved through centuries of alteration before preservation efforts restored its Revolutionary-era character.
Rev. John Frelinghuysen and his wife Dinah were the first occupants of the Old Dutch Parsonage and their two children, Frederick and Eva were born there.
