Middlebrook is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

within the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Bound Brook in Somerset County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. It is named after the Middle Brook, a tributary of the

Raritan River The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous areas in the North Jersey, northern and Central Jersey, central sections of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near ...

, on the western side of the community. The early-18th-century Old York Road, connecting Philadelphia to New York City, passed through here.

History

On May 4, 1681, a group of investors purchased from two Raritans, Konackama and Queromak, land bounded by the Raritan River, the Bound Brook, and the Middle Brook to the mountains for one hundred pounds, paid in goods. On September 25, 1683, Thomas Codrington, one of the original group, was apportioned 877 acres of this tract and built a house here, which he called Rackawackhana. After the Battle of Bound Brook on April 13, 1777, General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

moved the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

from its winter encampment at Morristown to the Middle Brook valley between the First and Second

Watchung Mountains The Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of volcanic origin, between high, lying parallel to each other in northern New Jersey in the United States. The name is derived from the American Native Lenape name for them, Wach Unks ...

, now called Washington Valley, protected by positions on the Middlebrook Heights, the First Watchung ridge north of Middlebrook. This

first Middlebrook encampment "Middlebrook encampment" may refer to one of two different seasonal stays of the Continental Army in central New Jersey near the Middlebrook in Bridgewater Township in Somerset County. They are usually differentiated by either the date of the encam ...

lasted from May 28 to July 2, 1777.

Historic houses

The Harris Tavern, built 1700 at the intersection of West Main Street and Vosseller Avenue, was the first hotel in Bound Brook. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, it was known as the Middlebrook Hotel and was a favorite of army officers. Later it was known as the Fisher Hotel. The building has since been demolished. The Thomas Codrington house, built 1683 at the intersection of High Street and LaMonte Avenue, was the first house built in Somerset County.

Notable people

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Middlebrook include: * Tunis Campbell (1812–1891), successful black politician in the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

Gallery

File:Middle Brook - looking north from Talmage Avenue Bridge, Bound Brook, NJ.jpg, The namesake Middle Brook, on the western side of Middlebrook File:West Main Street, Bound Brook, NJ - looking north on Vosseller Avenue.jpg, Looking north toward the Middlebrook Heights along Vosseller Avenue from West Main Street

References

Bibliography

* * {{Somerset County, New Jersey Bound Brook, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in Somerset County, New Jersey Unincorporated communities in New Jersey