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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
WASHINGTON, 51.1 miles (460 alt., 4,410 pop.), is a quiet, sturdy
town which, like Port Colden, was a stop on the old Morris Canal. Its
position on the Lackawanna R.R. helped to save it from paralysis when
the canal died. Once an important center for the manufacture of pianos
and organs, it is now largely dependent on the hosiery industry. Washington was at one time called Mansfield Woodhouse, for a Presbyterian
Church of the same name; the present name was taken from a tavern built
in 1811 by Col. William McCullough, founder of the borough. The community has a Vigilante Society, founded in 1867 to combat horse thieves
on the model of the Lambertville Vigilante Society; today its functions
have extended to automobile thieves.
Right from the center of Washington on Belvidere Ave. to Bowerstown Rd., a
loose stone road; L. on Bowerstown Rd. to (R) the CONSUMERS' RESEARCH PLANT
(open weekdays 9-4), 2 miles, a sturdy, barn-like two-story building of native stone
with slate roof, designed by Robert Dunbar. Snugly placed at the foot of a wooded
mountain with a fine view of the narrow valley in front, this is the seat of F. J.
Schlink, director of an organization that advises consumers on what goods to buy
and what goods to avoid, and known as co-author with Arthur Kallet of 100,000.000
Guinea Pigs. Schlink has developed an individual reputation as an advocate of meat
eating and as an enemy of patent medicines, big advertisers, raw fruit and vegetables,
milk, and baker's bread. His caustic criticism of employers who showed hostility to
organized labor was anticlimaxed in 1935 by the discharge of three of his employees
who had helped to form a union. The resulting strike produced scenes that kept the
normally quiet country town in an uproar. Armed guards patrolled the acreage about
the main building and the outlying farm structures that are part of the property. On
a
Fall day in 1935 a constable mounted on a farm horse rode into a crowd of several
hundred strikers and sympathizers from local unions assembled on the road. His act
provoked a riot that lasted for hours. The crowd surged through the ropes, showering the buildings with stones; automobiles were overturned and wrecked. By nightfall the guards were reinforced by hastily deputized farmers, armed with shotguns
and rifles. Although the grounds at first were brightly illuminated from floodlights
mounted on the building, the lamps were put out one by one with pellets fired by a
radical young hosiery worker, who hid in an adjoining cornfield and set a local
record for bull's-eyes with an air rifle. Guns blazed as the deputized farmhands chased
university graduates up and down the country lane west of the property. Strikebreakers barricaded within the building were evacuated in moving vans, with an
escort of farmers. Miraculously, no one was killed or seriously injured. The strike
subsided a few months later when the union members and other technicians withdrew
to New York City and established a rival organization, Consumers Union of United
states, Inc.
At 51.6 miles on State 24 is the junction with an improved road.
Right on this road, at the foot of Scott Mt., is BRASS CASTLE, 1.4 miles, which
offers some of the best trout-fishing in this well-stocked region. There is no architectural phenomenon at Brass Castle to match its name, which stems from an early
settler, Jacob Brass. A cascade that crashes down several rock ledges at the Washington Water Co. reservoir is known as ROARING ROCKS. The macadam road up
Scott Mt. is called Pleasant Dr. for the beauty of its views.
At 52.8 miles, for no apparent reason, is a staggering collection of lawn
statuary (R): concrete nymphs, urns, and waterless fountains.
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