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History · Millstone

23% of Millstone’s homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 58 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1900.

1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Millstone’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Millstone’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Millstone Historic District takes in 58 historic buildings.Boom and bustPeaked at 630 in 1970; 448 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Millstone’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Millstone’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Millstone’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewJohn Van Doren House: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

1 listing protects 58 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
58
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Millstone Historic District
Millstone Historic District
Districts
Millstone Historic DistrictDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Millstone, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 630

Peaked at 630 in 1970; 448 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Millstone’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Millstone came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Millstone.

Read it all →

Millstone, then called Somerset Courthouse, was the county seat of Somerset County from 1738 until the British burned it to the ground in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. After the victory at Princeton on January 3, 1777, General George Washington headquartered at the Van Doren house, while the army camped nearby that night. The next day, they marched to Pluckemin on the way to their winter encampment at Morristown.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Millstone in 1900

Passages that mention Millstone, cut from the printed page as they were published.

much alarmed at the apprehension of this, that they marched immediately to Brunswic without halting except at the bridges (for I also took up those at Millstone on the different routes to Brunswic) and got there before day. From the best information 1 have received, General Howe has left no men eit…
The Somerset hills1900 · page 49Read the page →
Read the text

much alarmed at the apprehension of this, that they marched immediately to Brunswic without halting except at the bridges (for I also took up those at Millstone on the different routes to Brunswic) and got there before day. From the best information 1 have received, General Howe has left no men either at Trenton or Princeton.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Millstone, 1776 to 1971

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1776Born hereJohn Frederick Frelinghuysen is born here
  3. 1790Born hereFerdinand Schureman Schenck is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1800Post officeThe Millstone post office opens
  6. 1817Born hereFrederick T. Frelinghuysen is born here
  7. 1838Born hereCharles Titus is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1970CensusPopulation peaks at 630
  11. 1971Post officeThe Millstone post office closes
By decade

Millstone, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
Census Bureau map ofDate?Census Bureau map ofMapJohn Van Doren HouseDate?John Van Doren HouseDutch Reformed Church, Amwell Road & Main StreetDate?Dutch Reformed Church, Amwell Road & Main Street
Today6 recent
Hillsborough Reformed Church, Millstone Borough, NJ, July 20252025Hillsborough Reformed Church, Millstone Borough, NJ, …John Van Doren House, Millstone, NJ - north view2015John Van Doren House, Millstone, NJ - north viewSnowy October morning in2011Snowy October morning inChild's informal dress, Millstone, New Jersey, United States, textile c. 1835-1837, dress 1840-1844 - Patricia Harris G…2011Child's informal dress, Millstone, New Jersey, United…Millstone nj 0352005Millstone nj 035Millstone, New Jersey2004Millstone, New Jersey
On the map

Millstone on the map, 1949 to 1960

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Millstone. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Millstone on the 1949 USGS mapMillstone on the 1956 USGS mapMillstone on the 1960 USGS map1949Newark sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Millstone.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

John Van Doren House
Retake this viewJohn Van Doren House

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Millstone’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

4 famous people were born in Millstone

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Frederick T. FrelinghuysenAmerican lawyer and politician · b. 1817
J
John Frederick FrelinghuysenUnited States general · b. 1776
F
Ferdinand Schureman SchenckAmerican politician · b. 1790
C
Charles TitusAmerican soldier (1838–1921); Medal of Honor re… · b. 1838
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Millstone had its own post office from 1800 to 1971.

Millstone
1800–1971
18001910today
1cemetery inside Millstone
Hillsborough Reformed Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hillsborough Township10 historic placesA−Franklin Township10 historic placesBEast Millstone1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlackwells Mills1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Millstone’s history

What is on the National Register in Millstone?

One place: the Millstone Historic District (listed 1976).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.