Patricia Valentine Whitacre

Martinsville and the Washington Valley Patricia Valentine Whitacre

George Washington camped with his army in the Middlebrook Valley in 1777, barely 70 years after the first Dutch farmers had settled the area. Farming continued to be the primary occupation for the next century in both Martinsville and the surrounding valley, now known as Washington Valley. Martinsville featured a blacksmith, general store, post office, and hotel, which was also a stagecoach stop on the road from Liberty Corner to Bound Brook. By the 1880s, two quarrying operations attracted settlers from other parts of Europe, and for many of the inhabitants, farming became only a secondary source of income. Martinsville and the Washington Valley depicts the area's rural lifestyle and leisure activities in the first half of the 20th century.