Long Valley Info

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.            Reasons to Live in Long Valley

2.            Township Links

3.            School Information

4.            Places of Worship 

5.            Fun Things to Do

6.            Recreation

7.            Youth Organizations

8.            Adult Sports

9.            Community Organizations

10.       Newspapers

11.       Transportation

12.  New York Times Article about Long Valley

1.         REASONS TO LIVE IN LONG VALLEY

As a life long resident of Long Valley, and a retired teacher I can vouch that this is a fabulous place to live. Located approximately 1 hour from New York City, Long Valley is adjacent to some of the most cosmopolitan areas in New Jersey, but has some of the most beautiful preserved land and parks in the state.  It is a family centered community. See the links below for more information.

Long Valley Named Safest Town in NJ

https://patch.com/new-jersey/longvalley/long-valley-named-safest-town-new-jersey

Long Valley Ranked 4th Safest Town in USA

https://patch.com/new-jersey/longvalley/icymi-long-valley-ranked-4th-safest-town-america

Only In Your State

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/fall-town-nj/

2.TOWNSHIP LINKS

Long Valley is a section of Washington Township, Morris County.  Some other sections of the township are Schooley’s Mountain, Beattys Town, Pleasant Grove, Califon, Middle Valley and Naughright.  Several post offices serve the 45 mile square township. Some of the mailing addresses in Washington Township are Long Valley, Califon, Hackettstown, Port Murray, Chester and Pottersville. Listed below are links that will give you greater insight into Washington Township.

Washington Township Town Site   https://www.wtmorris.org/

Washington TownshipLibrary   https://wtpl.org/

Fairmount Fire Company  https://www.34fire.org/

Long Valley Fire Company  https://www.36fire.org/

Long Valley First Aid Squad  https://www.lvfas.org/

Schooley’s Mountain Fire Department   https://www.35fire.org/

3.SCHOOLS

Washington Township is served by 2 boards of education.  The elementary schools are run by the Washington Township Board of Education. There are 3 elementary schools: Flocktown, Old Farmers and Cucinella and one middle school; Long Valley Middle.  West Morris Central High School is run by the West Morris Regional School Board and its sister school is West Morris Mendham. The links below will give you more details about our fabulous township schools, preschools and private schools.

Washington Township Schools (Elementary Schools)    https://www.wtschools.org/

West Morris Central High School    https://www.wmchs.org/

Valley Brook Country Day School   https://www.valleybrookcountrydayschool.com/

Long Valley Christian Nursery School    https://longvalleychristian.com/

Kindercare     https://www.kindercare.com/our-centers/hackettstown/nj/301722

The Goddard School     https://www.goddardschool.com/nj-ny/flanders-route-206-nj

Westmont Montessori    https://westmontmontessori.org/

Little Lambs Nursery School     https://www.gracebiblechapelnj.org/connect/little_lambs_ministry

Bright Horizons    https://child-care-preschool.brighthorizons.com/nj/flanders/mountolive

St. Joseph’s School Mendham     www.sjsmendham.org/

Far Hills Country Day     https://www.fhcds.org/

Gill St. Bernards     www.gsbschool.org/

Delbarton    https://www.delbarton.org/

Villa Walsh     https://www.villawalsh.org/s/172/start.aspx

Pingry    https://www.pingry.org/

4. PLACES OF WORSHIP

 Many options abound in Long Valley as far as places of worship.  The various congregations do not operate in isolation, but jointly sponsor and/or contribute to various events such as the local food pantry.  Follow the links below to learn more about this wonderful congregations.

Drakestown Methodist Church    www.drakestownchurch.com/

Highlands Presbyterian Church

https://www.usachurches.org/church/highlands-presbyterian-church-schooleys-mountain.htm

Long Valley Presbyterian   https://www.lvpc.net/

Our Lady of the Mountain RC Church   https://www.ourladyofthemountain.org/

Saint Luke’s RC Church   https://stlukeparishlv.com/

Zion Lutheran Church  https://zionlongvalley.org/

Valley View Chapel  https://www.valleyviewchapel.org/

Immanuel Lutheran Church  https://www.immanuelnj.net/default.asp?sec_id=140000249

Emmanuel Bible Church  https://emmanuelbiblechurch.net/

Temple Hatikvah  https://www.templehatikvahnj.org/flanders/

5.FUN THINGS TO DO IN LONG VALLEY

Even though NYC is short drive away, many unique options abound in Long  Valley for entertainment. Follow the links to learn about just a few.

Valley Shepherd – Sheep Shearing, Cheese Making – great for kids

valleyshepherd.com

Ort Farms – Pumpkin Picking, Hay Rides, Monster Trucks, Corn Maze

www.ortfarms.com

Long Valley Brew Pub – needed by parents after a day in the Corn Maze!

www.restaurantvillageatlongvalley.com

Ethos Health- Medical Practice on an Organic Farm using Organic Food to Heal

www.myethoshealth.com

Long Valley Green Market

longvalleygreenmarket.com

6.RECREATION

Within the 45 square miles of this beautiful corner of North West New Jersey, recreational options abound. Long Valley is probably most noted for the Columbia Trail, which is popular for biking, walking and horseback riding. But many parks and beautiful vistas are throughout the town.  Be sure to click on the I Love Long Valley Video for an overview of this gorgeous town! Follow the links below for more information.

The Columbia Trail    www.traillink.com/trail/columbia-trail.aspx

Schooley’s Mtn. Park   morrisparks.net/index.php/parks/schooleys-mountain-county-park

YMCA Randolph     https://www.randolphymca.org/

YMCA Basking Ridge   https://www.somersetcountyymca.org/

Chester Area Pool   https://www.chesterborough.org/pool

7.YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS

Long Valley is a family centered community and has many fine organizations run by parent volunteers. As a result we have many fine quality options for families. Long Valley ranks nationally as having the one of the highest number of Eagle Scouts and Girl Scout Gold Awardees. New in town?  Want to get to know people? Get involved!  Read all about these fine organizations below. Also check the Washington Township Library site for other programs sponsored by our wonderful Library staff.

Boy Scout Troop 36    Http://www.longvalleytroop36.org/

Boy Scout Troop 236    https://www.troop236bsa.org/

Boy Scout Troop 436    www.troop436.org 

Girl Scouts    https://www.lvgirlscouts.com

4 H   https://morris.njaes.rutgers.edu/

Long Valley Hockey   https://www.wolfpackicehockey.com/

Long Valley Baseball   https://www.longvalleybaseball.com/

Long Valley Rec Soccer   https://www.longvalleyrecsoccer.org/

Long Valley Travel Soccer    https://www.longvalleytravelsoccer.org/

Long Valley Softball     www.longvalleysoftball.com/

Long Valley Lacrosse      https://www.lvlax.org/

Long Valley Wrestling     www.Longvalleywrestling.org

Long Valley Basketball     https://www.longvalleybasketball.com/

Long Valley Football   https://www.lvrfa.org/

Long Valley Cheerleading    https://lvrca.tripod.com/

Long Valley Swimming    https://www.seadragonsac.org/

Long Valley Rugby    https://www.longvalleyrugby.com/

Long Valley Running Club    coachkd@longvalleytrack.org

8. ADULT SPORTS

Though Long Valley is very family oriented, that doesn’t mean we have ignored adults! There are various sports options for adults. Check out other adult programs sponsored by the Washington Township Library. Don’t see what you are looking for?  Another great way to become involved in our town is to start a new club!  Read below for options currently available.

Washington Township Badminton Club wfark15@gmail.com

Long Valley Men’s Basketball    https://www.lvmba.org/

Long Valley Women’s Basketball   chrisadamt@comcast.net

Long Valley FC Men’s Soccer (+18) League https://www.uslnj.com

Long Valley FC Men’s Soccer (+40) League https://www.uslnj.com

Long Valley FC Men’s Soccer (+48) League https://www.uslnj.com

Long Valley United Men’s Soccer (+40) cjolly@blacktowercapital.com

Long Valley Men’s Softball munizmd@att.com

Long Valley Women’s Softball League annettewagner01@gmail.com

9. COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Options abound for adults to become involved and meet other residents in Long Valley. These fine organizations sponsor numerous events and programs.  Check them out and see what appeals to you!

Long Valley Junior Women’s Club   https://www.lvjuniors.org/

Long Valley Women’s Club lvwomansclubeveningmembership.webs.com

Long Valley Evening Women’s Club https://lvwomansclubeveningmembership.webs.com/whoweare.htm

Washington Township Newcomers’ Club

Chester/Long Valley Rotary Club https://www.rotaryclubofchesterlongvalleynj.org/

Children’s Enrichment Program for the Handicapped (CEP) https://www.childrensenrichmentprogram.org/

The Garden Club of Long Valley https://thegardencluboflongvalley.shutterfly.com/

Community Garden https://wtcommunitygarden.jimdo.com/

10.NEWSPAPERS

A great way to get a feel for Long Valley is to check out the local newspapers and online forums. The local papers do a terrific job of highlighting Long Valley sporting results, community activities, upcoming events, etc.  Listed below are links to sites that can give you current information about what is going on in town.

Star Ledger www.nj.com/starledger/

Daily Record www.dailyrecord.com/

Long Valley Patch www.patch.com/new-jersey/longvalley

Observer Tribune https://www.newjerseyhills.com/observer-tribune/

Long Valley Patch https://patch.com/new-jersey/longvalley

11.TRANSPORTATION

There are other transportation options in Long Valley other than the car! The links below will assist you in finding train and bus options.

NJ Transit https://www.njtransit.com/

MAPS https://www.morrishumanservices.org/adv/maps.asp

12.  New York Times Article about Long Valley

LIVING IN

Long Valley, N.J.: Verdant and Occupationally Diverse

New York Times, March 5, 2019

Where does New Jersey feel like the Garden State? In a part of Morris County where you’ll find historic buildings, wooded trails and an eclectic community.

There is a place in New Jersey with rolling farmland and waterfalls, where foxes trot and black bears lumber. Where stone buildings date to the Revolutionary War and locals cry out in anguish at the arrival of Dunkin’ Donuts.

That place is Long Valley. A census-designated area with about 2,000 people in the municipality of Washington Township in Morris County, Long Valley feels like it belongs in something called the Garden State.

This came as a surprise to Catherine and James Klaassen. When the couple moved to New Jersey from Ohio 14 years ago, they associated it with dense cities like Trenton and Newark. Pulled east by Mr. Klaassen’s job transfer to Bell Labs in Whippany, N.J., the last thing they expected to find was a fresh green landscape with goat cheese. An added bonus was a highly rated public school system for their four children.

They paid $695,000 for a four-bedroom colonial in Long Valley, with a conservatory, an office and a walkout basement. Part of an early-2000s Toll Brothers development, the house was on 0.62 acres and had a wooded hiking path in back. In the spring and summer, Long Valley is “majestic,” Ms. Claassen, 56, said. “All beautiful shades of green and filled with flowering trees, bushes and vines. No one from outside the region would believe they were in New Jersey.”

Nearby pharmaceutical, telecom and candy corporations (Mars has offices just up the road in Hackettstown) have brought a number of businesspeople to these green acres, making for a population that is occupationally, if not racially, diverse. Your neighbor might be a farmer, a line cook, a vice president of marketing or a member of Donald J. Trump’s Secret Service detail (the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster is 20 minutes south).

Or she might be Michelle Hoff, 27, a public-school counselor who grew up in Long Valley and returned to live there as a newlywed. “I’m probably the one millennial who actually moved back to their hometown,” she said.

A year ago, Ms. Hoff and her husband, Ethan, a project manager for a commercial construction company, paid less than $300,000 for a three-bedroom clapboard house on West Maple Avenue in Long Valley’s historic center. From there, it is five minutes on foot to the Columbia Trail, a 15-mile scenic path. A favorite rest stop just off the trail is the Coffee Potter, a cafe whose mission, according to its website, is to “unite the community and connect its people.”

The Chesapeake Tavern was once the Long Valley Inn, a hotel and restaurant with roots that go back to 1787. According to the Washington Township Historical Society, when Albert Einstein lived in Princeton, he used to stop by for Sunday chicken dinners.

Ms. Hoff pointed out that Long Valley offers other comforts, as well. A 2019 study by the National Council for Home Safety and Security, a trade organization composed of alarm installers and related professionals, ranked Washington Township in Morris County the third-safest area in New Jersey. The report tallied 45 total crimes in 2016-17, 42 of which were “property crimes.”

Previously known as German Valley — the name was changed in response to World War I-era anti-Teutonic sentiment — Long Valley has deep roots and wonderful antique buildings. In 1983, 69 acres were designated as the German Valley Historic District, “a microcosm of vernacular architectural styles found in New Jersey,” from early Pennsylvania-German to Victorian shingle style, notes the nomination for protected status.

But there is an undeniable look of dishevelment. Several of the old stone and frame buildings in the historic district are rundown, and not in the poetic way of a New Jersey acropolis. The husk of a 19th-century blacksmith shop sits at the edge of the South Branch Raritan River, near the shored-up ruins of the 1774 Old Union Church. The 1832 schoolhouse that is now the Washington Township Historical Society museum is intact, but has been closed for months because winter cold overpowered the heating system. On the cheerier side, several spiffy vintage buildings operate with contemporary commercial uses, like the Long Valley Pub and Brewery, housed in an 18th-century stone barn that is part of a complex of four restaurants on Fairmount Road.

What You’ll Find

Its name notwithstanding, Long Valley occupies different altitudes in Washington Township. It rises from an actual valley to the top of Schooley’s Mountain, a 1,200-foot-high ridge to the north whose mineral springs made it a fashionable resort destination in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The community’s boundaries are commonly identified with the 07853 ZIP code.

Currently on the market are historic houses, like a former dairy farm on Naughright Road listed for $995,000; it has a dining room that dates to the 18th century and a stone cottage immersed in a spring-fed pond, where it was originally placed to keep milk cold.

Long Valley is also studded with midcentury ranches and bi-levels, as well as spacious properties that sprang up in the 1980s and later for executives at companies like AT&T and Warner-Lambert, said David Salmon, an agent with Keller Williams Towne Square Realty, in Basking Ridge, N.J. “The eight-room, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom colonial became the most common home in the area,” he said.

Those who live in the area have access to parks, streams, fresh produce and cozy independent businesses. They get their nails done, their vision tested, their pumpkins picked and their hardware needs supplied locally. Even Long Valley Village, a strip mall on East Mill Road, is filled mainly with mom-and-pop ventures (as well as the Dunkin’, to which residents have appeared to come around).

But not all demands can be met in the immediate vicinity. The only clothing store in town is a thrift boutique called Racks, operated by the Long Valley Junior Women’s Club, with the proceeds donated to community organizations. Big-box retailers are 10 minutes away in Chester and 15 minutes away in Hackettstown. Residents drive 20 miles east to Morristown for the food and entertainment, or continue on to New York City.

What You’ll Pay

Long Valley is dominated by single-family houses. The median sale price in the 12 months preceding Feb. 19 was $456,000, a year-over-year increase of 5 percent, according to Trulia. The median monthly price of rentals in that period was $2,900.

As of Mar. 2, 70 houses in Long Valley were posted on the Garden State Multiple Listing Service website. The least expensive in good condition was a 1965 ranch house with three bedrooms on 1.1 acres; it was listed on Feb. 9 for $295,000, with property taxes of $6,018. The most expensive was a 25-acre equestrian estate with a four-bedroom house and three horse barns, also built in 1965. This property was listed at $1.55 million, with unusually low taxes (for its size) of about $13,000; it has been on and off the market since 2009 and was last put up for sale in June 2018.

The Vibe

Residents describe a warm community that bands together, especially to support neighbors in distress.

The Long Valley Pub and Brewery is housed in a stone barn that is more than two centuries old. It serves seasonal microbrews with names like Long Winter’s Night Black Lager, as well as nachos, gravlax and an assortment of German sausages called “Best of the Wurst.”CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times

The Schools

The highly regarded Washington Township school district includes three elementary schools in Long Valley serving different parts of the district, and one middle school in Long Valley. Students in ninth through 12th grade attend West Morris Central High School in nearby Chester, N.J.

Benedict A. Cucinella Elementary School enrolls about 490 students in kindergarten through fifth grade and has a prekindergarten program for 15 disabled students. In 2016-17 state assessments, 66 percent of students met standards in English versus 56 percent statewide; 67 percent met standards in math versus 49 percent statewide.

Flocktown-Kossmann Elementary School comprises two buildings, one serving about 215 students in prekindergarten through second grade, the other about 250 students in third through fifth grade. On 2016-17 state assessments, 72 percent of students met standards in English versus 56 percent statewide; 69 percent met standards in math versus 49 statewide.

Old Farmers Road Elementary School enrolls about 335 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. On 2016-17 state assessments, 77 percent of students met standards in English versus 56 percent statewide; 76 percent met standards in math versus 49 statewide.

Long Valley Middle School enrolls about 800 students in sixth through eighth grade. On 2016-17 state assessments, 77 percent of students met standards in English versus 57 percent statewide; 61 percent met standards in math versus 37 statewide.

West Morris Central High School, which is part of the West Morris Regional High School District and has an International Baccalaureate program, enrolls about 1,300 students in ninth through 12th grade. Average 2016-17 SAT scores were 601 reading and writing and 612 math, versus 551 and 552 statewide.  

The Washington Township Historical Society museum has occupied this stone building on Fairview Avenue since 1981. Built in 1840, the structure was originally a schoolhouse and later became the public library. CreditTony Cenicola/The New York Times

The Commute

The most efficient way to get to New York City, about 60 miles east, is by car. The trip to Midtown on Interstates 80 or 78 takes between one and two hours, depending on traffic. Another option is to drive to Dover, N.J., half an hour east of Long Valley, and take a direct train to Pennsylvania Station on New Jersey Transit’s Morris and Essex Line. Travel time is less than an hour and a half, and the fare is $15.25 one way, or $445 for a monthly ticket.

The History

An article on summer health resorts published in an 1891 American medical journal recommended Schooley’s Mountain for its location on a high plateau covered in pitch pine trees, “a region of exceptional healthfulness, especially for those inclined to consumptive troubles.” The article went on to point out: “On the west side of the mountain is a mineral spring containing muriate of soda and lime, etc., beneficial in dyspepsia and bladder troubles.”