Somerville

Somerville, N.J., U.S.

Somerville, borough (town), seat (1784) of Somerset county, north-central New Jersey, U.S. It lies along the Raritan River, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of New Brunswick. Settled by Dutch farmers in the 1680s, it took its present name in 1801. The Wallace House (a state historic site) was headquarters for General George Washington during the American Revolution in the winter of 1778–79. Somerville’s growth was stimulated by the opening of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in 1834 and by the completion of the Elizabethtown and Somerville (later Jersey Central) Railroad in 1842. The borough is now a trade centre for nearby farm and industrial areas. Its light manufactures include pharmaceuticals and electronic equipment.

The Old Dutch Parsonage (1751), a state historic site, was where Rutgers University (now in New Brunswick) and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary were established. The Duke estate, established by tobacco magnate James B. Duke, is now a research and exhibition centre for the New York Horticultural Society. The Knox-Porter Resolution, ending the state of war between the United States and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary), was signed (July 2, 1921) by President Warren G. Harding at the Somerville estate of Joseph Frelinghuysen. Raritan Valley Community College (1965) is in the borough. Inc. town, 1864; borough, 1909. Pop. (2000) 12,423; (2010) 12,098.