NJ Getaway

Town · Somerville Borough, Somerset County

Somerville

The Somerset County seat, with a busy Main Street, a car-free dining street, Washington's 1778-79 headquarters and a famous Memorial Day bike race.

Somerville, the Somerset County seat, has a busy Main Street of restaurants and shops, and Division Street, closed to cars, fills with outdoor tables in warm weather. The grand county courthouse, the Old Dutch Parsonage and the Wallace House, Washington's headquarters in the winter of 1778-79, give the town plenty of history to explore on foot.

Every Memorial Day the streets host the Tour of Somerville, one of the oldest bicycle races in the country, run since 1940. Duke Farms is just south of town, with miles of paths through Doris Duke's former estate.

Make a day of it

In and around Somerville

Also nearby

Nearby

  • Wallace House Historic Site

    State Historic Site · 1 miles away

    The house where George and Martha Washington stayed during the Middlebrook winter encampment of 1778–79, next door to the Old Dutch Parsonage.

  • Old Dutch Parsonage Historic Site

    State Historic Site · 1 miles away

  • Duke Farms

    Public Garden · 3 miles away

    The former estate of heiress Doris Duke, now open to all: miles of paths and bike routes past lakes, meadows and woodland, and a glass orchid conservatory.

  • Raritan River Confluence State Park

    State Park · 5 miles away

  • Center for Contemporary Art

    Museum · 5 miles away

  • Leonard J. Buck Garden

    Public Garden · 7 miles away

    A rock garden set into a wooded glacial valley, where ferns, wildflowers and alpine plants grow among natural rock outcrops. Spring is the peak.