In 1701, a group of eight people bought a tract of 10,000 acres from John Harrison in what is now Franklin Township. They divided this Harrison Tract into eight plots and then into sixteen by drawing a north-south dividing line. This line eventually became a road, the Middle Line, now called South Middlebush Road. The other main road in the district is the east-west Amwell Road, which historically connected New Brunswick to Millstone, which was then the county seat of Somerset County. By 1704, two of the sons, John and Peter, of Cornelius Wyckoff, one of the original eight buyers, had settled in the Middlebush area.[3][5]
Contributing properties
The Middlebush Reformed Church, located at the intersection of South Middlebush Road and Amwell Road, was built in 1919 to replace the original 1834 church. It is a mix of Gothic Revival and Craftsman styles.[3]
The Voorhees House, located at 1719 Amwell Road, was built in 1793 by P. Metz in a Georgian style. It is now the Stage House Tavern.[3] The oldest building in the district, it was used in 1834 to organized the Middlebush Reformed Church.[6] The location also includes a contributing large, red shingle, 19th-century Dutch barn.[3]
