Washington Township Historical Society
Union Schoolhouse & Union Church and Burial Ground
The Red Tour
Sunday, May 7, 2023
12pm to 5pm
Washington Township Historical Society
Union Schoolhouse & Union Church & Burial Ground
Event Information
- Historic Preservation of the Union Church, Burial Ground and the Union Schoolhouse,
quilt display and more - Schooley’s Mountain Hotels and Spring
- Outdoor tour and history of the Union Church and Burial Ground
- “Images of America, Washington Township, Morris County,” books will be available for sale
- Limited parking is available in front of the Museum at 6 Fairview Avenue. More parking is nearby on Schooley’s Mountain Road, in parking lot next to #20 “The Market Square Building”.
Washington Township is the westernmost municipality in Morris County and, unlike the rest of Morris County, was settled from the west in the early 18th century by German immigrants. The influence of these early settlers can still be seen in the tradition of their original stone houses, many of which remain today.
Long Valley, located in the valley of the South Branch of the Raritan at the base of Schooley’s Mountain, was known as “German Valley” until World War I and, was one of the earliest settlements in Morris County. In the 19th century the village of Schooley’s Mountain, a few miles away on the top of the mountain, with its clean air, mineral springs and hotels, was a popular resort attracting the rich and famous of the day.
In 1774, early settler Philip Weise donated an acre of land to the German Evangelical Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran Congregations for the building of a Union Church with the stipulation that “no other building was to be upon, or built on, said acre of land but the said church or, meeting house a schoolhouse”.
In 1830, the Union Schoolhouse was built next to the Church and Burial Ground on that same acre. The schoolhouse, today, serves as the Washington Township Historical Society Museum.
